


Tell Me who You Are

by orphan_account



Category: WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Almost Rape, DAAWWW, Dean is cute with his fans, Even until now, I don't know., I skimped out a bit on the rape part, I'm sorry!, I'm still studying about DID, M/M, Mental Disorders, Mentions of Prostitution, Mentions of past drug abuse, Multiple Personality Disorder, Near death...?, OOC!Mox, Past Kidnap, Past Public Humiliation, Past Rape, Past Sexual Abuse, The arguing is so bad!, Triggers, because I'm a wimp when it comes to that stuff, i can't do it, mature language, mentions of past rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2018-05-06 01:08:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5397230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean Ambrose was never a normal person. People say he's got quirks and eccentricities. How much more eccentric can you get when you've got four other personalities living inside you?</p><p>Or</p><p>Deanie-baby with Multiple Personality Disorder.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just Trust Me

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted to my FFDN account and I decided to post it here.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters and personalities mentioned in this fic. Characters belong to the WWE and I do not make profit doing this, nor am I affiliated with the company.

 

 

“So you’re telling me that Ambrose has more than one….soul inside him?” Hunter asked, bewildered at what he was just told.

He and Seth were having a discussion about Dean in Hunter’s office and Seth thought it was a good idea to just tell his boss straight on that Dean is more than one person. Seth needed to tell Hunter of it in case an incident happens again. Of course, the COO was perplexed by the news and looked at Seth like he was crazy.

The two-toned man released an exasperated sigh as he rubbed a hand at his face to refrain himself from punching the COO. They’ve gone over this for half an hour and Hunter still didn’t get it and it was agitating Seth to no end.

“No, he’s one person but his brain, like, needed to make different personalities to protect him. It made an identity that’s stronger and can handle abuse thrown at him. I-It’s hard to explain but I swear that’s what I know.”

Hunter nodded and tapped his fingers on his desk. “Alright, I’ll take your word for it. But if an incident like this happens again, he is fired, alter or not.”

“Thanks, Hunter.”

“Uh…I think you should take him to a psychologist. Y’know, help him out with this….whatever this is.”

Seth knew it was a good suggestion but Dean, or Jon, wouldn’t approve of it. They didn’t need help and Seth will be good as dead if he so much as drives them past a psychology clinic. But Hunter was already looking around his office for their company psychologist’s business card before Rollins could protest.

“It’s around here somewhere,” The older man murmured as he went through his papers. “Ah, here it is. Set up an appointment with him and tell him I sent you.”

He handed a small, plastic business card over to the champion. The card displaying the name, address and contact details of the psychologist and Seth knew that he had to hide it from Dean. He put the card in his pocket and thanked Hunter for his time before leaving. Roman was outside waiting for Seth and as soon as the younger wrestler exited the room, he perked up.

“Well, what did he say? Is Dean fired?” He asked nervously as he cracked his knuckles, ready to “negotiate” with Hunter if Dean was fired.

Seth shook his head and cautiously took the card out of his pants pocket. “He told me that I should take Dean to a psychologist but I’m not sure that that’s a good idea.”

“Why is it not a good idea?” The Samoan questioned, taking the card and looking at the details mentioned.

“It would be what’s best for him. He can’t keep working with another personality. What would happen if he switches in the middle of a match? We’ll see an all-out death match in the ring, with an actual person’s death.”

Seth closed his eyes as he tugged at his hair in frustration. Everyone’s always telling him what to do, what was best for Dean. They don’t have a clue what Dean wanted, what he needed and what would hurt him. Seth has been with him longer than Roman has and in their time before WWE, he knew what made Dean tick and what would calm him down.

“I know, but just let me tell him about it,” He requested, finally opening his brown eyes. “I wanna be sure that he wants to go. Just…don’t tell him yet.”

Roman nodded. “Make sure he goes, though. Or else, I’m gonna drag him to the clinic myself.”

And with that, Roman went to Catering, possibly to get a snack or talk to Jimmy or Jey. Seth, on the other hand, went to Dean’s locker room, wanting to break the news as soon as possible. When he reached the Lunatic Fringe’s room, he heard Dean talking to himself. Seth pressed his ear against the wooden door, closely listening for anything of importance.

“Can’t do this……Not fair……Escape……Hurting him……Trapped like this……Be a protector……..The Core…..”

The phrases didn’t make any sense when it’s only a one-sided conversation but the half-blonde knew that Dean was arguing with Moxley. He was about to step away, thinking about coming back later, when he tripped over an empty plastic bottle, landing flat on his ass. The conversation inside stopped and Dean opened the door to see Seth rubbing at his backside as he stood up.

“Dude, you alright?” The blonde asked, offering a hand to help Seth up, which the younger man accepted.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Seth answered. “My ass hurts like hell, though.”

“Don’t be such a drama queen.” Dean joked, pulling Seth into his locker room and closing the door. “What were you doing outside my locker room?”           

Seth stiffened and stood there as Dean sat down on the bench, taking off his boots and changing into his sneakers.

“I…uh…was wondering,” Seth took a deep breath before resuming. “Dean, do you want to…you know, get help?”

“Help?” Dean repeated, not looking up at the younger man as he laced up his shoes. “Help for what?”

“For your……condition. Dean, you have Dissociative Identity Disorder-“

Dean looked up at him, eyes burning with irritation. “You don’t think I know that? I know that there’s some things wrong with me. And I can deal with that, always have. And I don’t need to sit for two hours at some guy’s couch while he’s asking me what happened when I was a kid.”

“But this isn’t something that you should keep. Dean, what if you and Moxley would switch in the ring? You and I both know that Mox is dangerous.”

“Moxley is protecting _us_ : He’s protecting you, me and…..whatever! I don’t need help!”

Dean pushed past Seth and reach for the doorknob but Seth grabbed him by the arm and held him back.

“Dean, please, for me. I can’t let….I can’t let Mox get me again. Dean, I am scared and I can’t always be around to stop him. Please…”

Dean stood there for a moment, held back by Seth’s arm and his words. He didn’t mean for it to go _that_ far. He knew that Moxley was dangerous and he knew he had to protect Seth. But what they don’t understand is that Moxley wanted to protect Seth, too. He was envious of what Dean and Seth shared and he wanted it for himself.

“I said no,” He answered firmly, yanking his arm from his lover’s grasp. “And that’s final.”

He opened the door and left, leaving Seth alone and feeling defeated.

 

* * *

 

 _“Finally you did something right, shithead.”_ Moxley’s voice echoed in Dean’s head as he walked to the Catering area. Dean tapped at his head, disguising it as a ruffle at his hair.

 

“Shut up, shut up.” He grumbled under his breath as he grabbed a bottle of water from Summer Rae, who was busy talking to Alicia Fox to notice that her drink was being snatched.

 

_“But the princess is right: What would you do if I took over one of your matches? Well, you’re gonna get fired, that’s for sure.”_

Dean gripped the bottle tightly as he took a sip of water. He often wondered why he was the ‘mask’ when he was calmer than Jon. Dean knew how to make better decisions. But Mox was indeed too dangerous for the entire world, only showing when the situation called for drastic measures.

 

_“Your little boy toy’s right: He should be scared of me, seeing as how I tore his ass apart three weeks ago.”_

 

Dean gritted his teeth. He remembered how Seth was bleeding afterwards and how he couldn’t walk properly. “Shut the hell up.”

 

_“Gotta say, you have good taste in men, Deanie. Tyler’s a much better fuck than any whore we ever slept with.”_

 

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP!” Dean screamed, throwing the bottle at the wall, water splattering everywhere. Everyone in the catering area froze and stared at the Lunatic as he looked as if he was having a breakdown.

“Please, stop it! Stop calling him that! Stop it! STOP IT!”

Paige wanted to approach him, ask him if he was alright but decided against it. Instead, she ran to find Seth. She needed to find him. She bumped into him as she turned left somewhere.

 

* * *

 

 

“Oh, shit. Sorry, Paige.” Seth apologized, bringing his headphones down to dangle from his neck.

The British woman waved him off. “No time for that. Something’s wrong with Ambrose and-“

“What?” Seth wasted no time. He grabbed her wrist and ran straight ahead. “Where is he? What happened?”

“He’s in catering,” The woman answered, running faster to keep up with him. “I don’t know what happened. He just started screaming and punching the wall. I thought you’d be the one who’d know how to calm him down.”

Seth heard what he needed and they ran straight for the Catering area. Sure enough, Dean’s was huddled in one corner, hugging his legs closer to his chest and arms resting on his knees, creating a wall that covered his eyes. He was shaking like a leaf and Seth could hear choked sobs coming from him.

AJ was a few steps in front of Dean, looking shocked and scared. She turned to see Seth and she said, “I-I tried to calm him down but he started to cry and…I was just trying to help.”

Seth quickly ran over to Dean and knelt beside him, observing how the crying man tried to get away from him. He looked up at AJ and asked about what she said that made Dean react this way.

“I mentioned something about going back to Cincinnati. We’re headed there on Smackdown this Thursday and he freaked out.” AJ answered truthfully, shyly rubbing her arm to soothe herself somehow.

Seth turned his attention back to Dean, who started to mumble nonsense in between in sobs.

“Dean? Dean, talk to me. It’s me. It’s Seth.” He reassured, cautiously placing a hand on Dean’s shoulder. When his boyfriend didn’t react, he held both of Dean’s shoulders and shook him lightly.

“Dean, look at me, please. Please. Come on, look at me.”

There were more and more people gathering around them to see what was going on and Paige took it upon herself to shoo the unwanted audience away.

“Alright, nothing to see here. Out, out with the lot of you, you gossipmongers.” She continued until on she, AJ, Seth and Dean were left in the area. AJ was holding a water bottle and a towel in case Ambrose calmed down.

“Is he alright?” Paige asked, looking genuinely worried. She didn’t know what was going on but she could tell that it was something major and that no one but Seth should approach the blonde.

Seth shook his head, running his fingers through Dean’s hair to calm him down. “I don’t know. He won’t look at me. Dean? It’s okay, we’re here to help.”

Finally, Dean shifted a bit and raised his head slowly, looking up at the three other wrestlers with wide blue eyes, which were now a nice sky blue in color. Seth had a feeling this was a different alter, Dean’s eyes were a clear indicator between switching: Dean had blue-gray eyes and Moxley had a navy blue color in his eyes. But still, Seth didn’t know this alter and he had a feeling that he needed to.

“Uh..is it just me or did his eyes change color?” AJ asked curiously, leaning down a bit to see better. “Because last time I checked, his eyes were darker than that.”

Seth ignored her and took the bottle of water from her hands. “Dean? Are you okay?” He didn’t know this alter’s name but calling him ‘Dean’ was a safe bet. The two-toned man opened the bottle of water and handed it to the man in front of him.

‘Dean’ just looked at them, looking scared and confused. When his eyes drifted to the unknown half-blonde man, he somehow felt safe but he still didn’t say anything.

“Can you tell us your name?” Paige asked, causing confusion in Seth and AJ. She looked at both of them and shrugged. “Aunt used to have DID. That’s….what’s with him, right?”

Seth nodded and turned his attention back to the scared man. “You can trust us. What’s your name?”


	2. Be Yourselves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean just wishes that he and his alters would get along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at summaries, I need to work on that.

‘Dean’ stared at them and opened his mouth to say something. Seth, AJ and Paige leaned in a bit closer to hear him.

“Tell me who you are. And where I am.” He said, pressing against the wall to put some distance between them somehow. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were wrapped in what seemed to be black and white tape.

Seth looked back to AJ and Paige before turning back to ‘Dean’.

“I’m Seth. These ladies are Paige and AJ,” Seth said, gesturing at the women behind him. “We’re your co-workers. You’re in the Catering area right now at work. What’s your name?”

The blonde was about to answer when he had this glassy look in his eyes and his head hung low, causing his bangs to cover his eyes.

Paige knelt beside Seth and placed a hand on the unstable man’s shoulder.

“Dean? Talk to us.” She said, brushing her fingers through ‘Dean’s’ hair. Seth held her wrist and pushed it back.

“I think he’s changing back.” He pointed out, watching his lover closely. “Dean, look at me. Please.”

Dean gripped Seth’s hand, which was now on his knee, and the two-toned man looked at him, curious to know what was going on. Dean looked up at them and his eyes were back to their normal blue-gray shade. He looked up at Seth then at the two women behind him.

“Seth?” He croaked out, gripping his head. “Oh god, what happened?”

“We could ask you the same question.” AJ said. “You started acting weird and like you don’t know who we are.”

Dean realized that he was holding a water bottle. He twisted the cap off and took a small sip. “Yeah?”

Paige nodded. “Yeah, I think you scared off the catering crew but y’know, nothing major.”

Dean blinked, seeming confused. If he didn’t do anything ‘major’, then who the hell took over? The only alters that are shown to the world were him and Moxley. If it wasn’t Mox and it wasn’t him, who the hell was it? Unless…..

“Shit.” He mumbled, moving to stand. Seth stood up straight and helped Dean to get up on his feet. “Dean, I don’t think you should be moving yet.”

“I’m fine,” Dean reassured with a sneer as he stumbled out of the room. Seth thanked Paige and AJ for their help.

“No problem,” AJ chirped with a smile. “Now, go after him before something happens.”

Seth ran out to follow Dean but he wasn’t in his locker room and he wasn’t with Roman. Seth was starting to freak out. He ran around the arena, trying to find his former Shield brother, when he bumped into Sheamus.

“Sorry, fella,” The Irish man apologized, offering a hand to help Seth up. “You alright? You look like you’re in a hurry.”

Seth took the hand and Sheamus lifted him up to his feet with ease. “I’m alright. Have you seen Ambrose anywhere, by the way?”

“Yeah, I saw him run to the parking lot. Poor guy finally snapped, I think. Was talking to himself when I passed by him in the hallway earlier.”

Seth nodded and thanked him and bolted to the parking lot, where he saw Dean leaning back against the chainlink fence. He seemed to be murmuring something under his breath, gripping the hair at his temples.

 

* * *

 

Dean dashed out of Catering, his heart pounding in his chest. Mox did not just let that happen, he couldn’t. He needed to figure out what the hell happened. He ran into Sheamus earlier but he didn’t bother to apologize. When he reached the parking lot, he took a few deep breaths before questioning,

 

“Mox, what the fuck did you do?”

 _“I didn’t do anything,”_ The other alter said, his voice not at all sorry. _“You and I were having a conflict. You know how it goes.”_

 

“You let the Core take over?!” Dean demanded, striking the fence behind him. “Have you completely lost it?! You’re supposed to protect him!”

 

_“Come on, Tyler was going to know sooner or later. And besides, you came back just in time before the Core could reveal anything.”_

 

“You’re gonna use that bullshit excuse? Jon, you need to stop-“

 

“Dean, you okay?” Seth’s voice jolted the Lunatic Fringe out of his internal discussion. Dean looked up at him but dropped his gaze down to his feet when he saw that worry in Seth’s eyes.

 

The blonde nodded. “I’m fine. Just…thinking, I guess.”

 

“Dean, I think we should really go to a psychologist now.”

 

“No, it’s fine now. I don’t need to go.”

 

“Dean, who’s the Core? Was he the alter we saw earlier?”

 

Dean kept his mouth shut. Seth didn’t need to know anything more about him. He knows what he needs to and that’s it. Dean placed a hand on Seth’s neck and pulled him closer for a hug. The blonde rested his head on the crook of the champion’s neck and muttered, his words muffled against Seth’s skin, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Seth wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist as he assured him that it was okay. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I just….I didn’t say anything, did I?”

“No, you just asked us who we were. You didn’t say anything, don’t worry.”

Dean let out a shaky breath of relief. He hugged Seth closer as he tried to see if the Core was alright.

**[Dean’s mind/subconscious]**

 

“Are you okay?” Dean asked, kneeling in front of ‘himself’. The other shook violently as it shook its head.

**_“He was supposed to protect me,” The Core mumbled as he looked up at Dean, his eyes red with crying and his voice hoarse after screaming. “I didn’t know what to do.”_ **

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry-“

_“Oh, suck it up!” Mox interrupted, walking into both men’s view. “You guys know what happens when both protector alters have a conflict. One of the sub-alters takes over, that’s the way it is for us.”_

“You already saw that he was exposed to the others but you did nothing about it, Jon!” Dean stood up and pushed Moxley back before kneeling back to check on their real self.

_“Fine! Because I’m the screw-up, right?! Because I’m the lousy protector, right? And because you’re the better one of us, Ambrose! We were doing fine without you!”_

“Do I have to remind you that I came to existence because you were going too far?! I stepped in because you were doing more harm to both of you than good! You were drinking, smoking, doing drugs, Mox!”

_“So what?!”_

“You’re supposed to protect him!”

_“And I am protecting him! I was protecting him before you came along!”_

“If it wasn’t for me, you could have gotten yourselves killed!”

 

**_“STOP!”_ **

 

Both protectors looked at their Core and the instinct to protect him became too overwhelming that they put their differences aside to make sure he was okay.

 

**_“I’ve had enough of this! I am so sick and tired of you two fighting! If I’d known that I was going to grow up with fighting and screaming, I would have ended it when I was still alone!”_ **

“Don’t say that. You don’t mean that.”

_“And you were never alone. I was there with you.”_

**_“I know, Mox, I know.”_ **

_“Then why say it? And besides, at the end of the day, Dean and I will always be here to make sure you’re okay.”_

“Mox, take care of him. Make sure nothing happens.”

_“Yes, mother.”_

 

**[Meanwhile, in the conscious world. (Crappy name is crappy)]**

Seth noticed how Dean became quiet and motionless, save for a few twitches from Dean’s hands which were gripping at Seth’s hips. The two-toned man let Dean stay in this position, knowing that it would help. It was unsettling, though, how still and silent Dean was and Seth was beginning to wonder what was going on in that head of his. Was he asleep? Did he pass out? Seth wasn’t sure but he knew that Dean was alright now at least.

Rollins moved back a little and he noticed how Dean’s eyes were closed and how relaxed his breathing and body was, to the point where Seth was sure that the blonde would fall if he let go. Dean looked so…attractive this way: Just relaxed and calm. Of course, it would have been better if he was conscious but Seth appreciated what he could while Dean was like this.

Seth ran his fingers through Dean’s messy curls and twirled a lock of it between his fingers, making the piece of hair even more rounded and curly. Dean’s lips hung open a bit, like he was stopped in a middle of a sentence, and Seth had to stop that train of thought before it could start. Dean was in a fragile state and he certainly didn’t need someone groping him or checking him out.

 

After a few more minutes of standing there in the parking lot, Dean finally showed signs of life. He stirred a bit and his neck twitched, which was a sign that Seth had yet to know about, before he finally looked up. He looked a bit confused and disoriented at first, looking at Seth as if he was a stranger. But after a few seconds, he finally leaned back against the fence and took a deep breath.

“Sorry,” He breathed out, his breath a fog in front of him, momentarily masking his face.

The two-toned man shook his head and took Dean’s hand into his. “Come on, let’s get back to the hotel. You must be exhausted.”

Dean smiled at him. He appreciated that Seth took the time to know what happens to him before, during and after switching. It was sweet how Seth knew what his alters were like. (Or what Moxley is like since Mox is the only alter he interacts with.) And Seth was right: Dean felt like he could collapse at any moment: His head and vision were spinning, his stomach felt sick and he was a bit shaky. So a ride back to the hotel sounded like a good idea since he probably wasn’t fit to drive at the moment.

He followed Seth further down the parking lot to get to the younger man’s car. Dean was actually surprised that it wasn’t a fancy car like he expected the pretty boy to have. It was a simple black Toyota Corolla car as opposed to Dean’s initial idea: An Audi or any fancy car. So now, Dean felt like an asshole to think that Seth’s car would change along with his status in the WWE. But no, it was the same car where the Shield rode for hours on end on the way to shows and pay-per-views, it was the exact car where Seth first learned about his…..problem.

“Well, are you getting in or not?” Again, Dean was perturbed from his thoughts and he realized that they were already standing beside Seth’s car and the champion was holding the door open for him, looking expectantly at him.

Dean blinked for a second. “Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” He quickly got in the passenger seat and Seth closed the door after him before sitting in the driver’s seat. He started the car and they drove in silence. At first, Seth thought Dean was asleep, judging by how silent he became again. But when took a quick glance at the man next to him, he noticed that Dean wasn’t asleep, just staring at the road in front of them with glassy eyes.

 

**[Back to Dean’s mind/subconscious]**

 

_“Y’know, Ambrose,” Mox started as soon as Dean ‘entered’. He was sitting on an invisible floor, and the place looked empty, save for Moxley, their Core and a few chairs._

_“You’re pretty lucky to be with Tyler. I’ll admit: I’m jealous.”_

“How is he?” Dean asked, sitting down on one of the chairs. The Core was sitting next to Moxley, the latter rubbing his back soothingly. His hands were covering his face and his elbows rested on the top of his knees, which were drawn as close as possible to his chest.

_“Had a few troubles but nothing too serious. Told you I could take care of him as good as you can.” Moxley looked up at him with a proud smirk on his face._

Dean smiled back at him. “Never doubted it,” He ran a hand through the Core’s dirty blonde hair. “You alright?”

**_The Core nodded as he answered, his voice muffled against the palm of his hands. “Mox wasn’t too irritating this time. You with…uh…you with Seth?”_ **

The blue-gray eyed alter bit the inside of his cheek. “Yeah, why?”

**_“He’s….He’s nice. He’s a keeper, Dean.”_ **

Dean smiled knowingly, then remembered that Seth was driving him back to the hotel. They probably arrived already. He looked to Moxley. “Take care of him, okay? I need to get back.”

_“Sure, now get outta here. You’re my only method to hang out with Tyler somehow. Don’t blow it.”_

 

**[Conscious world]**

 

Dean stirred a little in his seat and Seth glanced at him to see if he was okay. The unstable man sat up in his seat, his neck twitching slightly again and he looked lost, looking around in the car and at the road before settling back in the passenger seat.

“You okay?” Seth asked, pulling up at the hotel parking lot. He turned the engine off but didn’t exit the car just yet. Dean nodded, clutching at his head.

Man, entering his subconscious just to ‘talk’ to his alters were draining the hell out of him. It felt like a concussion but he kept hearing ringing in his ears along with it and he couldn’t look at any bright light without being blind for a split second.

 

With shaky hands, Dean opened his door and stepped out, stumbling around before finally being able to walk. Seth walked around the car to help him get to the hotel lobby. Dean was so tired that he could fall asleep on any couch he lands on. But Seth had him lean against a wall while he got their keys to their rooms.

Dean studied the people in the lobby with them. Many of them were people he works with in the WWE while others were just strangers, some of which were going around asking for autographs or selfies.

The blonde was sure that no one would approach him, judging by how tired he looked. But unfortunately, one kid came up to him, holding up a digital camera.

 

“Wow, are you Dean Ambrose?” He said excitedly, as he looked up at the man with awe and adoration in his eyes. “I’m your biggest fan!”

“Really? Cool.” Dean said with a forced smile. His legs felt like jelly and he could barely keep himself up. He really didn’t have the energy to deal with fans right now. But Dean liked interacting with them, especially the young ones who insist that every one of them is his number one fan. He bent down and settled his hands on his knees to be on eye level with the kid.

“How old are you? What’s your name?”

“My name’s Joshua. I’m six years old and I wanna be just like you!”

 

Dean let out a humored scoff and he hoped that the kid didn’t catch that as an insult. “Trust me: You don’t wanna be like me. But keep….keep working hard and I promise that you’ll be where I am today.”

“You look tired,” The kid pointed out. “Am I bothering you?”

“Not at all but I am pretty tired.”

“Oh, okay. But can I take one picture with you? My friends won’t believe that I met you if I don’t take a picture.”

 

The wrestler smiled and looked at the child’s digital camera. “I can do you one better. You have a video setting on that thing, right?” He pointed at the camera and Joshua nodded. “Give it here.”

The boy gave the camera to Dean with any hesitation and he watched as his idol turn the gadget on and set it on video. He focused the camera on him and the boy.

“Alright, say something to camera. Your friends are probably gonna watch this.”

Joshua’s eyes lit up. “Hey guys! I’m with Dean Ambrose right now. That’s right, I finally met him in person! Told you I would.”

Dean smiled at the kid’s enthusiasm. “Yeah, whoever is telling him that he’s lying, I will come get you. Joshua’s a good kid and I can tell he’s gonna be a great wrestling legend when he’s older.”

Without turning the camera off, Dean handed the camera back to the child and Joshua kept the camera focused on his idol for a while, thanking him, before walking away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that there's no confusion:  
> Dean's text will be written in normal, Mox's are bold and the Core will be given the combination of the two.
> 
> But the alter who is exposed (i.e. taking over) will be given the normal text. You'll understand what I mean when we get to the latter chapters.
> 
> Send me prompts? Send 'em here: knuckles009.tumblr.com


	3. Protect me, Protect him, Protect us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean wanted to be sure Seth would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably some Seth/Moxley fluff is gonna go down in this chapter so….yeah! I just wanted to emphasize that Mox is there to protect Seth too. In this chapter, the alter that takes over will be given the normal typed text and the other alters will be typed in italicized.
> 
> WARNING: Mature language. And a pretty long-ass chapter so…there you go. And any misconceptions about DID are acknowledged. I am not a professional psychologist and I made do with the information I gathered.

Dean leaned back against the wall and noticed that Seth was looking at him from the receptionists’ desk, smile plastered across his lips. He probably saw what the Lunatic did for the kid while waiting for the lady behind the desk to fetch their keys. Dean shot him a wink before walking over, albeit slowly.

Seth appreciated how Dean interacted with his fanboy. He never thought that he could be that patient to deal with fans, especially when he was tired as fuck. But Seth just watched it happen a few steps in front of him and he still couldn’t believe that Dean could be that patient. The blonde just keeps on surprising him every time.

The Lunatic finally reached Seth. He placed a hand on his lover’s shoulder to keep himself from falling face first on the floor. “You got our keys yet?” He asked with a smile, his dimples flashing along with it. Seth chuckled softly as he poked one of them with him finger to see how deep they would go.

 

“Won’t be long, Dean. Just sit down or talk to somebody here.” Seth answered, carding his fingers through Dean’s soft, dirty blonde hair. He glanced around the hotel lobby to find someone that Dean could talk to but only found two or three people that the tired man could barely _tolerate._

“Uh, sir?” A woman chimed in. Seth looked over at her and she handed him two room keys. The woman blushed when Seth laid eyes on her. “Here are your keys. Sorry to keep you waiting. Enjoy your stay.”

Seth nodded. “Dean? C’mon, let’s get you to your room so you can sleep. Sound good?”

Dean nodded and they walked to the elevator. They took their luggage and rode the elevator to the tenth floor in silence, Dean leaning against the cool metal wall while Seth did the same against the opposite side. Seth noticed how Dean’s eyes were starting to flutter close so he walked closer to him and held Dean’s head with both hands.

“Stay awake for me,” He muttered, looking at his partner with concern. “Just a few more floors then you can sleep.”

Dean tried to keep his eyes open, he really did. He tried to focus on Seth’s eyes, how they were always so beautifully brown and just….sparkling, with lack of a better term. Dean loved them, loved staring into them. Seth’s voice was so soothing that he found it hard not to be sleepier than he already was.

 

_“Dean….He’s right there.” Moxley’s voice pointed in a sing-song tune. “Fucking take him already.”_

 

“Seth,” Dean ignored his alter’s comments, looking at Seth instead. “Why do you stay with me? Like, you don’t get tired of me switching back and forth?”

Seth remained silent. He _is_ getting pretty exhausted of Dean and his condition. But he understood that it wasn’t Dean’s choice to be the way he is. No one in their right mind would ask for this, would choose to have this disorder. He looked away from Dean and immediately he could feel Dean’s heart breaking. The champion knew that he should probably answer but he couldn’t find a way to make his words hurt less to hear. Instead, he mumbled a simple, “Sometimes, but-“

Dean gently pushed Seth away from him. “Yeah, I thought so. I figured you say do something like this. Just wish that you would have told me that _we_ were bothering you already. After all, the poster boy doesn’t want his image wasted by some psycho with personality issues, right? Who would want to deal with a fuck-up like me, right?”

Thankfully, they arrived at their designated floor and Dean quickly walked out to somehow put some distance between him and Seth, who quickly followed after him.

“Dean, I didn’t mean it like that,” Seth explained, walking faster to catch up to the Lunatic. “Please, just slow down a bit. Dean- Just…Dean!”

“What?!” The blonde finally turned around when he was outside his own hotel room, throwing his one of his bags at Seth’s direction. His eyes had this burning hatred in them and even though they were still blue-gray, Seth couldn’t help but feel scared. He stepped back and unconsciously raised his arm to stop Dean if he did anything violent.

“What do you fucking want from me?! How do you expect me to feel when you practically told me that you were fucking tired of me being the fucking lunatic that I am?!”

Seth swallowed down to his fear and took a step forward and placed his left hand over Dean’s chest, feeling the rapid heartbeat there. Dean didn’t move to get the hand away but he didn’t calm down, not in the slightest.

The two-toned man reached into his pants pocket and fished out Dean’s hotel room key. He held it up and Dean snatched it from his with a furious look on his face. He turned around and fumbled to get the key into the lock and finally got inside after a few seconds of struggle. He quickly gathered his three bags, went inside his room and slammed the door.

Seth sighed and took his own luggage and walked further down the hallway to his room. He unlocked the door and went inside, collapsing on the bed as soon as he saw it. He kicked his bags down to the floor as he scooted up to lean against the headboard, taking his phone out of his jacket pocket and typed a quick message to Dean.

 

_‘Sorry 4 wat happened. I didn’t mean it. Not tired of u. Just please don’t b mad. –S.R.’_

 

He put the phone on the nightstand next to the bed and laid down on the bed, willing himself to get some sleep.

* * *

Dean flopped down on the soft bed after kicking off his shoes. It was sweltering inside his hotel room and he was convinced that there must be something wrong with the airconditioner. He took off his black shirt and laid down on the huge bed, his limbs spread out on the mattress. He could feel tears gathering at the corner of his eyes but he wiped them away by covering his face with a pillow. His phone vibrated in his pocket so he fished it out and read the message, which was apparently sent by that two-toned jerk.

The Lunatic Fringe screamed and threw his phone at the wall, the device shattering into little pieces. Dean felt tears stinging the corners of his eyes as his vision switched between clear to extremely blurry. He found it difficult to breathe and Jon and the Core’s voices were starting to mute.

 

_"Get it together, Ambrose” Jon said in Dean’s head. “C’mon, Dean, stay with us. Try to focus.”_

“Mox?”

_“What?”_

 

“I need you to take care of Seth.”

* * *

 

Seth started to panic when Dean wasn’t answering his calls. He hung up the phone, put his key in his pocket before dashing out the room. He pounded his fist against Dean’s door as he demanded for him to let him in. He could hear his lover screaming inside, followed by occasional bumps and pleads. Rollins’ worry grew as he heard these sounds and he desperately needed to get inside before Dean could hurt himself.

“Dean? Dean, open the door. It’s me! Dean!”

He heard frantic footsteps on the other side of the door, which ended with a loud ‘thud’ that sounded like a body hitting a wooden floor. Seth pressed his ear against the wooden door, trying to pick up any sounds of pain but all he heard were relieved breaths and coughing noises before everything was silent.

 

“Dean?” Seth called out, moving back to gently knock on the door. He heard shuffling from the inside and before he could blink, the two-toned man was pulled inside and thrown on the hard wooden floor. He immediately got to his feet and stepped back as Dean stepped forward.

“Dean, are you okay? Why aren’t you answering my calls?” Seth mustered up his courage to move closer to his former Shield brother, his hands wandering frantically to find any wounds.

The blonde man looked him in the eye and Seth resisted the urge to scream and run for help. Those dark eyes stared at younger man hungrily as the blonde flashed him a toothy grin.

“Hey there, Tyler,” Moxley greeted, his voice deep and almost growling. He roughly gripped Seth’s chin, forcing the champion to look at him. “You missed me?”

Seth struggled against the violent man’s grip, managing to wriggle his way out before trying to run to the door. Mox just laughed at his efforts and blocked the exit before the smaller man could reach it.

 

“Leaving so soon, Tyler? You’re so rude.”

“M-Mox, wait…” Seth backed up until he felt the edge of the bed hit the back of his knees. He stumbled until he was sitting on the seat. He needed to get out of here, scream for help but he remembered what Hunter told him.

 

_‘If an incident like this happens again, he is fired, alter or not’_

 

Moxley straddled Tyler’s waist as he pinned his wrists above his head. “Dean seemed pretty heart-broken, don’t you think?” He question, leaning down so he could obscenely lick at Tyler’s neck, loving the salty taste of Tyler’s sweat against his tongue.

“He said something about how you said that you were sick of us. Is that it, Tyler? You’re getting bored of us? You’re getting bored of Ambrose? Thought you loved that poor bastard.”

Seth thrashed around when he felt Jon’s tongue on his neck. His eyes were getting teary as Moxley kept groping and licking him. “Y-You should…know that I-ah- love him more than a-anything.” He snapped back, his hips involuntarily bucking up when Mox cupped the bulge in his pants.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re enjoying this,” The violent man pointed out, squeezing the clothed dick. Tyler kept making those delicious whimpers and moans that were just music to Moxley’s ears. He moved his sloppy kisses to the younger wrestler’s collarbone, biting at the soft skin harshly before soothing it with his tongue. His right hand popped the button of Tyler’s skinny jeans open and zipped it down, his hand immediately gripping the half-hard cock still confined in the tanned man’s boxers.

“God, Tyler, you’re killing me over here. I can see why Dean loves to fuck you so much.” He complimented when he saw Tyler’s face: His gorgeous brown eyes staring up at him pleadingly, pretty pink mouth hung open as ragged breaths escaped them and a mad blush was spread all over his cheeks.

 

Seth tried to keep his eyes on Jon, to see if there was a sign that Dean might interrupt. But the handjob he was getting was almost enough to make him beg. Almost. He noticed that the hand that held his wrists loosened its grip and he wasn’t sure if Mox wanted Seth to touch him or he was just lost in the moment as well. Either way, Seth brought a trembling hand up to cup Moxley’s cheek to somehow calm him down so his inevitable assault wouldn’t be as painful as last time.

Jon didn’t even detect that he eased his grip on Seth’s wrists until he felt a hand on his face. He stared at Seth’s face, his right hand stopped its movement as he tried to read what he was trying to do. Tyler’s thumb then began to rub tiny circles on his Moxley’s plump cheek, gently pressing the area where his dimples usually show. Jon finally figured it out: Fucker’s trying to get Ambrose back. Moxley felt furious. He pinned the hand back down again and his right hand moved to brutally tug at the black and blonde hair.

 

“What is it about Ambrose that’s so fucking fascinating to you?!” He challenged, gritting his teeth. He savored the shocked sound that slipped past Tyler’s full lips. “What is it about him that you love so much?! What’s so fucking special about him?!” He slapped that pretty little face of his, the force of the act causing Tyler’s head to turn.

Moxley’s lips curled up into a smirk and was about to hit Tyler again when he heard an almost inaudible sob. His left hand let go of Seth’s wrists and almost immediately, the half-blonde brought them up to his mouth to stop the whimpers from getting any louder.

Unfortunately, the sounds increased in volume once Seth realized that Jon had heard him. He turned to his side, even though Mox was still straddling him. He tried to steady his breaths as well as make the tears stop but dammit, the fear that Jon instilled in him was overwhelming that he found himself weeping loudly.

Mox took Tyler’s wrists into both hands and held them close to his chest, the younger wrestler struggling to get away from him. But he squeezed them, his nails digging into the soft flesh of the inside of the wrists, as he shook Tyler a few times to get him to stop and look at him.

 

“Stop. Stop- No, listen to me….Just-FUCKING KNOCK IT OFF!”

 

Seth froze, brown eyes gazing fearfully into navy blue ones. He swore he could see genuine concern in Jon’s eyes as the blonde studied him. When Seth finally calmed down, Jon let out a sigh through his nose and continued his sentence.

“Dean’s not coming back for a while,” He informed, taking note of the scared look that washed over the smaller man’s face. “You hurt him so bad that he went into isolation, as we like to call it. But he did tell me to take care of you. He still loves you, Tyler. He’s never gonna stop loving you, not by a long shot. This is the first time I saw Ambrose get hurt so bad. He’s supposed to take abuse and just laugh at it but you? You’re just so special, aren’t you?”

“No…” Seth gasped out. “No…Dean. Dean, I’m sorry. Please, come back. Please!” He started to fight against Moxley again, trying to wrench his wrists from Jon’s grip but the blonde was too strong.

“Dean! I didn’t mean it! Please, I’m sorry! Dean, you promised me! This isn’t fair! Dean, come back! Dean-“

“STOP IT!” Jon commanded, twisting Seth’s wrists so that the younger man would stop. “I promised Dean that I’ll take care you. I don’t want to have to hurt you, Tyler!”

Seth was going ballistic. His eyes screwed shut as tears poured from them. “Just fucking kill me already! Please! Kill me! Dean, please!”

Jon mentally cursed at Dean as he tried to get Seth to stop.

“Tyler, listen to me. I’m not gonna hurt you, okay? You’re okay. Please, please just stop.” He slipped his thumbs into Seth’s fists and rubbed mindless patterns on the palms. He leaned down on top of the writhing young man and whispered words of comfort into his ear.

 

Seth started to calm down, his voice almost gone from all the screaming he did. His fists unclenched and Moxley’s hands slightly tightened their hold to soothe him. For moment, Seth was convinced that Dean was back so he looked to the man, trying to see for any signs of him switching back. There was none and he just flopped his head back against a pillow in defeat. But Jon wasn’t doing anything bad, just lying on Seth’s chest as he held his hands.

Now he could see why Dean told him that Moxley was protecting both of them. He could be gentle if he needed to be but Seth wanted Dean’s gentle touches, his quirky smile and his promises that everything was going to be okay. It was his entire fault. It was because of him that Dean went away and that just filled him with grief, even though Dean wasn’t inherently dead.

Jon finally moved so he was off of Tyler’s chest and was relieved to see that Tyler was getting sleepy. Good, he could take care of him better if he was asleep. “Go to sleep, Ty,” He advised, reaching a hand up to run his fingers through the bi-colored hair. Tyler stared at him for a few seconds before he nodded. Mox let go of his wrists and moved so he was sitting next to Tyler instead of straddling him. He zipped up Tyler’s pants and leaned back against the headboard.

Seth grabbed a pillow and laid down on his side in a fetal position, facing Moxley and pressing his cheek against the alter’s thigh. The sweet scent emanating from Jon was so similar but Seth knew it wasn’t his lover. He just had to deal with Mox until Dean comes back. He felt a hand in his hair and he flinched at the sudden contact but was soothed when the fingers played with his hair, resembling the way Dean does.

 

“Dean loves to do this to you, you know,” Jon mentioned, gently massaging Tyler’s scalp. “You think it annoys him when you ask for head rubs but it doesn’t. He just acts like it does when you’re still awake but when you fall asleep; he keeps doing it until he falls asleep.”

Mox’s ears picked up the sound of soft snoring coming from the younger man and Jon couldn’t stop a smile forming at his lips.

 

_“How’s he doing, Mox?” Dean’s voice asked in Mox’s head. Jon could swear that he could see Dean looking concerned._

 

“He’s doing fine. I kinda scared him, though. Sorry about that, Dean.”

 

_“It’s okay. Thanks for doing this for me.”_

 

“Anytime, Ambrose. You…uh..okay now?”

 

Jon didn’t receive a response so he busied himself by pulling the blanket up to his and Tyler’s shoulders, pulling him closer. Mox didn’t sleep right away, just laid there and enjoyed holding Tyler’s warm body against his. This man is handsome and Moxley wanted nothing more than to keep him for himself. But sadly, Tyler chose to love Dean and there was nothing that Jon could do but sit in the back of their mind and watch them.

But now, he had Tyler next to him, the two-toned man holding onto him and just….there. Those pretty pink lips were slightly hung open as gentle snored slipped from them, his chest rising and falling in sync with his breathing. The smaller man shifted a little, murmuring something about how warm it was in the room, before tugging at the collar of his shirt in his attempt to peel it off. Mox took the hem of the shirt and managed to pull it up to Tyler’s chest before the Armenian’s eyes went wide and he moved back until he nearly fell off the edge of the bed.

 

“I was trying to help you take off your shirt,” Moxley explained, looking at the frightened man. “You said it was too hot so I thought you wanted to take off your shirt.”

Seth slowly settled back to where he was lying down on the bed. “Sorry. I’m just…jumpy, is all.”

“Scared is more like it. I already told you that I’m not here to hurt you. Do you still want or shirt off or not?”

Seth fiddled with the hem of his gray shirt, contemplating on whether or not he should trust this man. But eventually, he nodded and let Jon pull his shirt over his head and tossing the clothing somewhere on the bed. Jon placed his hand on the younger man’s smooth, tanned chest and gently pushed him back down on the bed.

“Get some sleep, already,” Jon advised with a joking smile. “Dean’s gonna kick my ass if I don’t get you to take you beauty sleep.” He kissed Tyler’s forehead and pushed the stray strands of hair, tucking them behind the champion’s ears.

“Kiss me?” Seth requested out of the blue, taking Mox by surprise. “Dean always kisses me goodnight.”

Jon scratched the back of his head. “I don’t think Ambrose would want me making out with his man. That’s like cheating on your girlfriend with her best friend. Just go to sleep already.”

Seth settled a hand on the back of the Jon’s head and pulled him down for a kiss, earning a grunt of surprise from the older man. Seth savored the sweet taste of Moxley’s mouth, which always stayed the same whoever he switched to: Sweet like gummy bears with a hint of spearmint, probably from all that gum they love to chew on.

 

Meanwhile, Jon was split between pulling Tyler closer because this is what he wanted for so long and pushing him away because Tyler was Dean’s man. No matter how he acts, Moxley has a tiny bit of respect reserved for his alters. So he sits there and stays still until Tyler laid back down on a pillow.

“Goodnight, Mox.” The younger man mumbled, finally closing his eyes to sleep. Jon let out a shaky breath as he covered Tyler with blankets again. He laid there, coverless, staring up at the ceiling until sleep started to take him over.

* * *

 

**[Mox/Dean’s mind-subconscious]**

 

_“Dean, before you say anything, I didn’t mean it.” Mox said, approaching a poker-faced Dean Ambrose. The Core sat on one of the chairs in the ‘room’, biting his nails as he watched his two protectors._

 

_“He said you always kiss him goodnight and he kissed me.”_

 

“Mox, calm down. I’m not mad,” Dean reassured, tapping at the Core’s hand away to keep him from damaging his nails. “When I said that you should take care of Seth, which means doing all the things I would normally do.”

_“Things you would normally do, huh?” Jon smiled amusingly, tapping his chin with his index finger._

“EXCEPT fucking him. As far as I know, he’s still fucking scared of what you did.”

 

**_“Dean, why’d you leave Seth?” The third alter asked, worry hinted in his voice. “Don’t you love him anymore?”_ **

 

Dean stayed silent for a while before replying, “’Course I still love him, J. But I needed to get away for a while. What he did, what he said about being sick of us. It…it got to me and I had to step back before I could damage all three of us.”

_“How are you, by the way? Deanie not causing you any trouble?”_

**_“No offense, Mox, but Dean is better at taking care of me back here.”_ **

_“Hey, none taken. I always was a bit of a ‘tough love’ kinda guy.”_

**_“Dean, you sure you’re not mad at Moxley for kissing Seth?”_ **

“Jonathan, I already said it: I don’t mind as long as Seth’s okay. But no sexual contact, you hear me, Moxley?”

_Moxley shrugged. “I got ears, don’t I?”_

 

“Get some rest. And enjoy your time with Seth because I have a feeling it’s gonna be long time before you get this chance again. Oh, and tell Seth that I’ll probably be back sometime this week.”

* * *

 

**[Conscious world]**

Moxley opened his navy blue eyes, inhaling sharply. The room was completely dark and quiet, except for his deep breaths. He sank back to his pillows and felt quick movements next to him. Seth got up on his elbows, looking him in the eyes excitedly before frowning after a few seconds.

“You okay?” Tyler asked, brushing Moxley’s bangs away from the blonde’s face.

Mox smiled at the act. “Yeah, I talked to Dean. He said he’ll be back probably this week.”

“Who’s Jonathan? Is that your real name?”

Moxley froze. Was he talking in his sleep? Tyler needed to know but Dean always told him to wait for the right time.

 

‘Well, Ambrose,” He thought to himself. ‘It seems like the most appropriate time for me.’ He pursed his lips. “Well, yes and no. Jonathan isn’t  _my_  real name but it’s the name of our real self.” Seth's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Huh? I thought Dean was your real self.” Seth muttered and Moxley held his hands.

“No. Um…Think of us as an onion: Dean and I, we’re just outer layers but there’s one center, our core. You follow me?” Seth nodded so Jon continued.

 

“I’m sure Dean already mentioned the Core to you. He’s like our center, where we came from and who we’re supposed to protect. His name’s Jonathan Good and he’s….a bit scared of everyone except you. I was his first protector because the abuse and trauma he experienced as a kid became too much. Dean, however, sprouted because I abused my status as the only and primary protector. Being out all the time and being a mask for Jonathan, I started to neglect my purpose and we were neck-deep in trouble while I worked for the indies. I noticed how Jonathan became silent, like in my head, and I realized that he created another alter because I was apparently abusing him by all the crazy shit I did." Mox took a deep to still his breathing before he continued.

"Eventually, Ambrose took my place as the primary protector and I became like a last resort, which is this situation between you and Dean. Being a mask for Jonathan, he is basically the Core’s voice and confidence but if the abuse he takes gets too much, it pierces right through him and reaches Jonathan.”

 

Seth listened intently at the explanation given to him. This information was crucial and he couldn’t miss a single detail. This might be the only time he’ll hear this since he’s certain that Dean never intended to tell him.

Moxley took a deep breath. This next bit was a bit touchy for him and it hurt to talk about. “Y’see, Dean left because he needed to be careful. If a protector, for us at least, takes too much abuse than we can handle, we sort of…die. Like, we just fade. I almost died when I was still in HWA because of…tough shit but luckily, I left that hellhole before anything could happen. I don’t want to hurt your feelings or make you worry, but we almost lost Dean. We were lucky enough that he isolated himself just in time before he faded.”

 Seth’s eyes were watery with tears as he gripped the sheets when he heard the words ‘almost died’. He almost killed Dean. Moxley brought him closer, letting the younger man rest his head on his shoulder. Seth didn’t even hold back his tears anymore. He needed to make sure Dean was okay, to make sure that Moxley was lying to him.

“Dean’s fine now, Tyler. It’s okay.” Moxley consoled. “Hey, look at me.” Seth moved back until he was staring into Jon’s dark eyes.

 

“Dean loves you, you hear? He fucking _loves_ you. To tell you the truth, I’m a little jealous. He gets to have you all to himself while I watch in the back. But I get it: You don’t like me that way I like you and I’m fine with that. I just…I love you, Tyler.”

Seth was taken by surprise when Jon closed the space between them and kissed his lips. The kiss felt desperate and relieved and Rollins could tell that Mox has been feeling this way for a long time, possibly even way back in Ring of Honor. They never had a match together but he heard about him from Jimmy Jacobs and the first word that Jimmy used to describe Moxley was “savage.” So he steered clear of Jon but sometimes, when he was in his locker room getting dressed, he could feel someone was watching him.

 

Moxley moved back and cleared his throat. “I remembered I was supposed to get you to sleep.” He brought the covers up to Tyler’s neck and immediately laid down as he did so, his back towards the two-toned man. His chest hurt and he felt stupid for pulling a stunt like that. Of course, Tyler doesn’t like him that way. Did he honestly think that Tyler would love him back if he kissed him? Stupid, fucking stupid!

“I’m sorry Dean.” He mumbled before falling fast asleep.


	4. Stay With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seth just wants what's best for Dean. But sometimes, the best isn't what's best.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly fluff in this chapter from Seth’s part. That is all. Warnings are the same: Mature language, yadda yadda. DISCLAIMER: I do not own any wrestling personality you may recognize in this story and for any mistakes and misconceptions about D.I.D, I apologize since I am not in any way, a professional psychologist yet but I will be taking up BS Psychology.

Seth was on his back on his side of the bed, trying to sleep. But how could he when his lover wasn’t there with him? His body was screaming at him to get some sleep but his mind was running a mile a minute about what just transpired between him and Moxley. The violent man told him that Dean was in danger of ‘dying’ and it was all Seth’s fault. It was his fault because he was in too much of a hurry to rid Dean- or Jonathan- from this disorder that he neglected to think of the possibility that maybe they didn’t want to get better.

No, that couldn’t be. No one would want this disorder. Seth laid down on his side, facing Moxley’s back. The skin was littered with a few scars here and there; some were from Dean’s Chicago Street fight with Luke Harper. Others were ones that Seth didn’t know the origin of, probably from their time in CZW or whatever indie wrestling company. He cautiously traced a finger on the scar that ran down from just below Moxley’s shoulder.

Seth stopped when he felt the older man tense up. Moxley mumbled something inaudible before turning to face Seth, his eyes still closed in slumber.

‘It’s not Dean but it’s close enough.' The two-toned man thought to himself, brushing Moxley’s bangs away from his face. But Dean wasn’t as messy as Mox when it came to sleeping. The latter kept moving his hands or his legs, mumbling something under his breath as he slept. The champion desperately tried to sleep until he eventually did around 2 AM.

* * *

 

“Tyler? Tyler! Hey!”

 

Seth woke up to Mox’s constant calling and taps on his ass. He grumbled and pushed his face off the pillow before saying, “What?”

“Your boss called,” The other man informed, holding up Seth’s phone. “Asking about me…er, Dean.”

 

Seth sat up slowly on the bed, his chest and stomach aching from sleeping on his stomach all night. He rubbed his face with both hands to somehow fully wake himself up. “Did you answer the phone?” Seth noticed his bags were in the room and he looked up at Mox with a confused look.

 

“Nah, I just let it go to voicemail. He told you to call him back. Oh, and I got your bags for you. Figured you were gonna stay over for the night.” He handed the phone back to the half-blonde, who immediately dialed Hunter’s number and pressed the phone against his ear.

 

“Hello?” Hunter’s voice greeted from the other end of the call.

 

“Hunter, it’s Seth,” Seth scratched the back of his head to try to think of how to tell the COO about the…situation. “Sorry if I couldn’t answer earlier.”

“It’s fine. Where are you staying? Your hotel room was empty when Jamie checked in on you.”

“Yeah, about that. I had to keep an eye on Dean.”

“Where is Ambrose, anyway? Roman said he was with you when you left yesterday.”

“Yeah, I’m in his room right now. Hunter, we have a situation. Dean switched last night and I don’t know when he’ll switch back.”

“Can’t he just come to work? No one will know the difference.”

 

Seth mentally cursed at the Cerebral Assassin. “No, Hunter. You don’t know how his alter fights. I can’t give you the details but just look up his indie records and look for videos. I just don’t think he should take Dean’s place.”

He heard his boss sigh from the other end. “Okay, one week. But that doesn’t include you, Rollins. You still have interviews to go to.”

“I know. Thanks, Hunter.”

“No problem. Take care of the lunatic. He may be crazy but the fans just love him for some reason.”

 

And with that, the COO hung up. Seth set his phone on the nightstand next to the bed.

“So, what did he say?” Moxley asked curiously. He changed into a new pair of basketball shorts and a white wifebeater and Seth found it hard to talk all of a sudden.

“One week. But I can’t keep an eye on you all day. I have interviews to attend.” Seth rolled off the bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Mox just sat there on the bed, thinking about what he should do to keep himself occupied once the younger man leaves.

 

“Hey, Dean.”

 

_“What?” The annoyance in the alter’s voice put a smile on Moxley’s face. Piss off Dean before breakfast? Check._

 

“Do you really go to a lot of boring interviews and photoshoots?”

_“’Course I do. I don’t usually accept photoshoot offers, though.”_

“How do you deal, man?”

_“I just usually ramble on and on about random stuff when they ask me questions and hope that they’ll be so confused that they’ll take the hint and not ask me anymore.”_

“Man, it was better back in the indies. Promos weren’t scripted and no interviews to go to all that much.”

 

_Dean scoffed. “Yeah well, welcome to my life. How’s Seth? He’s not being a douchebag, right?”_

“Nah, he’s cool. He’s adorable when he wakes up, though. I would have fucked him the second he did if it wasn’t for that drool on his cheek.”

_“Yeah, he drools in his sleep a lot. But at least you didn’t have to deal with him sleepwalking.”_

“He sleepwalks?”

_“Yeah, pretty much when he’s stressed out. One time, I woke up with him pissing in the closet. The hotel staff wasn’t too happy about that.”_

 

“Mox?” Jon turned his head to see Seth dressed in a Glamour Kills shirt, those ungodly tight pants, sneakers and a baseball cap and those really nerdy hipster glasses he likes. “I’m gonna be back around noon, okay? Don’t mess the room up, order room service if you want as long as it isn’t too expensive-“

“You sound like a mother,” Mox drawled out, sitting up on the bed. “I’ll be fine. What you should be concerned about is whether or not you’ll pass out sometime later. Those pants look like they’re cutting off your blood circulation.”

Seth stuck his tongue out childishly before retrieving his phone. “I don’t know. I like to give the fans something to look at while I’m out on the street.”

Mox whistled shamelessly when Seth walked to the front of the bed and bent down to pick up a pillow that fell off the bed the night before. “Yeah, well it’s a great tactic.”

“I know it is,” Seth looked at his wristwatch and swore loudly at the time. He needed to get to the radio station for his interview in five minutes He grabbed his jacket and his keys. “I gotta go. And for the love of everything holy, stay outta trouble.”

“I’m not making any promises!” Jon yelled as Tyler went out the door. He slid off the bed and looked around the hotel room, trying to find something to keep himself occupied.

 

He spotted Seth’s laptop carrier on the sofa not too far away from where he was standing. He walked over, zipped open the bag and pulled out the device along with its charger. He set both items on the table and marveled at the laptop for a minute.

“Figured he’d be into Razer stuff.” He muttered. The sleek Razer Blade Pro was impressive and Mox smiled at the memory that Dean had given it to Seth for his 28th birthday. He opened the laptop, making a lucky guess about the password, (which was, of course, DeanAmbrose1207.) and checked the games and software and programs the laptop had. Turns out Tyler was into making videos, what with all the video-editing software he had. And it wasn’t just regular stuff. Of course he had Sony Vegas Pro and that Adobe video-editing stuff, as well as a few screen capture programs.

 

_“Mox, what are you doing?” Dean questioned and Mox could picture him tapping his foot as he crossed his arms._

“I’m bored. And he didn’t say anything about not touching this fucking Razer Blade you got him.” Jon browsed through the documents section, looking through folders. Some were boring like typed documents, old vacation photos and letters to people. But the others were interesting.

“I didn’t know he kept copies of his Cyberfights matches on his laptop.” He muttered, clicking on the file folder. He watched every video, each one more teasing than the last and each article of clothing Tyler wore became smaller with each episode.

_“Okay, Jon, that’s enough. I don’t even understand why you would watch this. You’ve already seen him naked so what’s the point?”_

“Don’t be such a pussy, Dean. Lemme have a little fun during my freedom,” He exited the folder and looked for another interesting file, stumbling across one named “For Dean 2015”. “What’s this?”

_“I don’t know. Click it.” Dean’s anticipation to see what’s inside the file was imminent in his voice._

The violent alter chuckled at Ambrose’s excitement. “Wait, aren’t you the one telling me that I shouldn’t poke around your boyfriend’s laptop?”

 

_“This is different,” Dean explained. “It doesn’t look R-rated to me.”_

“It might be. We’ll just have to check it out.” And with that, Jon clicked the file folder and there was only one video in it. It was titled “No one…” and nothing else. It didn’t seem to be anything too explicit but, then again, it’s the title that made it seem so innocent. So he clicked on the video and it opened on the Media Player.

 

It was a black screen for two seconds before Tyler came into view, too close to the camera as if he was still adjusting it. But he moved back and sat on a couch. He wore nothing but a pair of jeans, which looked similar to the pair he slept in last night. The background was illuminated by a bathroom light.

He cleared his throat and finally spoke, his eyes in contact with the camera, “No one can make me truly happy. No one, not even my friends, my family. No one ever made me feel truly happy.”

He appeared miserable as he dropped his gaze to the floor. He rubbed his hands together for a good five seconds before looking back to the camera, a big smile on his pretty face.

 

“Except you, Dean. I know you hate drama and I’m sorry if this would make you barf up your lunch because of how fucking cheesy it is but it’s true,” A slide show started to play while he spoke, he and Dean were the usual people in the photos. “I couldn’t think of a single day when you didn’t make me smile because of how fucking hyper you are. I lost count of how many days you made me feel alright when I was going through tough shit. Remember when I was feeling bad because I thought being a bisexual was a bad thing? Yeah, you remember. You told me that there was nothing wrong with that and that as long as you love me, other people’s opinions shouldn’t mean anything.”

 

“Dean, are you seeing this?” Jon asked, his eyes transfixed on the show in front of him.

_Dean muttered a “Yeah, I see it” before going quiet again._

 

Tyler kept talking in the video. “How do make it look so easy? I just…ugh! I can’t keep up with you, Ambrose, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try. You’re just so worth it.” His expression turned to one of shame and guilt. “I’m sorry if I haven’t been the same lately. I’m sorry if I seem easily irritable but I’m just under a lot of pressure. I’m sorry for what-“ He wiped at his eyes, even though there were no visible tears.

“For what I’ve done. I know it’s because you think I hate you for living with a condition you didn’t ask for but Dean, it’s not. I love you, no matter what. No matter what’s going on in that wonderfully hyperactive brain of yours, I will always love you. You could have an eating disorder, borderline personality disorder, heck, even schizophrenia. I’ll still fall in love with you all over again.”

“I’m sorry for the mess I made and I know it’s my fault that we almost lost you. Dean, I love you. I’m really sorry. But babe, sometimes it’s just hard to see you when you’re not yourself. It’s hard for me to see you get in trouble for something you never intend to do. And it hurts me to know that it’s affecting your job. I just want what’s best for you.”

The Armenian released a shaky sigh and his brown eyes were focusing on everything except the camera but it was clear that he was on the verge of tears. “I love you, no matter what. Believe in that.” Then he stood up again and the video ended.

Jon leaned back against the red couch of the hotel, feeling as if he just trespassed on someone’s territory. He had a feeling that Dean was supposed to see this when they switched back. When did Tyler record this? He checked the properties of the video and saw that it was made and edited last night, just after 4:20 AM. He must have woken up and decided to make an apology video.

“Woah,” Jon muttered, closing the video player. “Dean…”

_“Yeah, I know.” The alter answered, his voice low._

“Do you wanna switch back now? I mean, I can’t be a replacement for you, y’know. We may look alike but he wants _you_.”

_“I hate it when you get all preachy on my ass. I’m supposed to be the rational one around here.”_

“Well, you’re still in isolation so one of us has to take that title for a while. How’s Jonathan?”

_“He’s doing good.” Dean sounded amused and like he was about to burst out laughing._

Moxley’s navy eyes squinted. “Did you just-“

_“Ha! See what I did there?”_

“Yeah, sure. Make fun of our core who already has self-issues. I swear, sometimes you turn into a jack-ass when you’re in there for too long.”

_“Is that the reason why you’re a jackass most of the time?”_

“Shut up, you sarcastic fuck.”

 

* * *

 

After a few hours of watching porn and youtube videos, Mox fell asleep with the laptop safely put back on the table. His head rested on the arm of the sofa and his feet dangled by the back of his knees on the opposite end.

Seth arrived a little later than he promised but he was exhausted and he couldn’t care less. He threw the jacket onto the floor and spied Jon on the couch, still asleep. He saw his laptop out of the case but he didn’t attempt to fight with the blonde for poking around his computer.

He went to the bathroom to change into nothing more than a pair of grey sweatpants. He went out of the bathroom to check back on the blonde. Jon was still lying down on the sofa but his was wide awake this time, just staring up at the ceiling and running his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.

 

“When did you get back?” The violent man asked, gesturing for Seth to come closer.

Seth approached him, tying his bi-colored hair back into a bun. “Just now, actually. What were you doing with my laptop?”

 

Moxley shrugged his shoulders as Seth sat down on the floor. “I got bored so I played a few games. By the way, I think your laptop has a virus or something.”

“You installed something, didn’t you?”

“Maybe. But whatever.” Mox bit his lip as he thought about what to say next. “I watched the video you made last night.”

 

The Armenian visibly stiffened at the mention of the video. He wanted to scream, get furious at Jon for messing with his files. But he couldn’t really blame him and deep down, he wanted the blonde to find it, knowing that Dean was probably going to see it as well.

Seth rested his elbows on his knees and let out a deep sigh. “Did….Did Dean see it?”

Jon nodded, letting his arm dangle from the edge of the couch to give Seth a comforting pat on the head. “Yeah, he loved it. But he’s not ready to come back yet.”

Seth brought his knees up closer to his chest and sighed in resignation. ”Did you eat yet?”

“Yeah, a few hours ago. Ordered a pizza. There’s still some in the fridge if you want.” Jon answered, his fingers twirling mixed-colors locks of Seth’s hair as he stared up at the ceiling again.

 

Seth declined the offer and looked at the man on the couch, then to his laptop. An idea popped into his mind. “Mox?”

“Hm?”

“Can you like…bring out your alters at will?” Seth had to tread this road carefully. He didn’t want to have to come to work with a black eye or a limp tomorrow. He took out his phone and checked for any messages before setting it to video.

Jon was perplexed by the question. “Yeah, why?”

“How?”

 

Jon sat up on the couch and glared daggers at Seth as he answered, “We meditate and learned what triggers brings each of us out. It sounds weird and a lot of people will tell you that people with D.I.D can’t do it, that their alters aren’t aware of each other. What’s with the sudden interest?”

Seth chewed on his bottom lip. “I asked Dean yesterday if he wanted to see a psychologist and-“

 

“You what?!” Jon demanded, standing abruptly and causing the younger man to flinch. “So that’s why Dean was so ‘easily’ broken: You gave him the hint that you wanted to get rid of us!”

“I was doing it for his own good,” Seth replied, standing up from the floor as well. He almost regretted doing so because now he was looking right into Mox’s dark navy blue eyes, which were filled with a weird mix of burning hatred and child-like fear.

“I was just thinking of his career.”

 

“If, by some miracle, you get us to a fucking psychologist,” Jon gripped Tyler’s shirt collar and pinned him against the wall separating the kitchen from the living room. “And we somehow get all fixed, what makes you think that Dean is the one that’s going to stay? If anything, Jonathan is going to stay. And even then, he won’t be able to wrestle anymore. So what makes you think that Dean is going to stay with you, when you know for a fact that he existed because of abuse?”

Seth never thought of it that way. He always assumed that whoever is going to stay is going to possess some aspect of his alters’ beliefs or mannerisms. But no, one is going to stay and the others will be as good as dead. And it scared Seth to think that maybe, “helping” Dean would mean killing him. Maybe that’s the reason why Dean didn’t want to get help. He knows that he isn’t the original persona, he knows he’s going to fade once they get help.

 

Moxley couldn’t control the words coming out of his mouth. He was so furious at Tyler for all he did to Ambrose that he had to say what was on his mind. “Is that how you repay that person who loves you, Tyler? Is that it? Do you want Dean to die?!”

“No!” Seth cried out, the thought of losing Dean was too much to bear. “That’s not what I wanted! That’s never what I want! I just want what’s best for him!”

Jon sneered at him. “You think killing him is what’s best? You think killing US is what’s best?!”

 

_“Jon, stop!” Dean pleaded in the back of Moxley’s mind. He had been watching the scene unfold from their subconscious and it was getting out of hand. He needed to get back._

 

But Jon ignored his alter’s request. “If Dean had died last night, would you have been happy knowing that your lover suffered because of you?! You’re fucking-“

Jon’s sudden pause caused Seth to worry. He cupped the blonde man’s cheek and tried to see if he was hurt.

* * *

 

**[Dean’s/Mox’s subconscious] (This is gonna sound a bit fantasy-like)**

 

“What do you think you’re doing, Moxley?!” Dean lunged at his alternate self as soon as he pulled him from the conscious world. “How can you fucking say that?!”

 

_“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for trying to defend my alters!” Mox made wild gestures with his hands, making him look almost theatrical and Dean would've laughed if they weren't in a serious situation right now._

 

“But doing it like this? Jon, Seth doesn’t need any more guilt! Didn’t you ever stop to think that maybe he felt guilty because he made me go into isolation? Dammit, I’m trying to keep him from getting any mental disorder! He doesn’t need to go through what we go through!”

_Jon pushed at the WWE superstar, Dean almost colliding with Jonathan. “Oh, boo hoo! Because your pretty princess is too precious for this world, right?”_

 

**_Jonathan watched as his protectors bickered but he didn’t do or say anything to stop it. He knew what was going to happen next and he waited for it. He needed his turn to talk to Seth._ **

* * *

 

**_[Conscious world]_ **

Rollins held on to Mox (Dean? Mox?) when he almost fell back. He had this glassy look in his eyes again and his mouth hung open in mid-sentence and his fingers and wrists occasionally twitched. Seth wanted to move them both back to the couch but he held on, trying to see if the troubled man was switching.

Seth noticed the familiar twitching on the man’s neck, which he associated with them switching, and a small groan. The blonde raised his head and those striking sky blues were looking around the room confused. After a few minutes of silence, Jonathan finally spoke.

 

“Seth, I think we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not know how D.I.D works and what happens to an individual’s alters once successfully cured so please excuse my blatant lack of knowledge. But I am researching as much as I can and asking a few psychologists about this disorder. But…cliffhanger! See you in the next chapter and hopefully, Jonathan and Seth will get along.


	5. Don't Leave Me (To My Demons)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean never wanted this. Never wanted his sickness to cause him so much pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some OOC-ness coming up. I’m sorry. Warning for this chapter: Near-death. I don’t know anything about what happens when an alter goes away or ‘dies’ so I’m sorry if there are misconceptions spewed throughout this chapter.

Jonathan’s serious look and tone of voice filled Seth with unease. The half-blonde swallowed the lump in his throat and mustered up his voice to ask: “Is...Dean okay?”

“He’s fine. Don’t worry,” The blonde reassured. “We need to talk.”

Seth nodded and Jonathan walked over to the couch and sat down, legs closed and back leaning straight against the back (?) of the couch, like he was expecting Seth to scold him if he didn’t sit like this.

 

“You love Dean, don’t you?” He asked, straight to the point. He stared into Rollins’ chocolate brown eyes and looked at him with a daring look on his face, as if he was challenging Seth to say something hurtful.

“Of course I do,” Rollins answered almost immediately. Was this a thing now? Was doubting his love for Dean trending now? “I love Dean to death, Jonathan, you know that.”

 

Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck, releasing a sigh through his nose. He was sick and tired of his protectors fighting over just one man. But even he had to admit that Seth was special, that he was different. He couldn’t really blame his alters for obsessing over him. He liked Seth and wanted to see him and Dean be happy then he remembered that the man next to him almost killed Ambrose.

He needed to end this, all of this, before he loses both of his protectors. Seth had a grip on both of them and that was a dangerous thing. He had control over Dean and Jon, make them do things they wouldn’t normally do, and Jonathan didn’t know if the two-toned man was aware of that. All it could take is a single sentence, an action, and he could lose his protectors and he would be left exposed to the world once more, something he would never be ready for.

 

“If you really love him,” He started, glaring at Rollins with a subtle hint of hatred. “If you really care about us, then stay away.”

Seth looked at Jonathan with shock. No, he couldn’t be asking him to do that, right? All he could do was listen to the original persona as he continued.

“Don’t come near us, don’t come near Dean. Don’t talk to him. Just stay away from us. If you really want Dean to be okay, you’ll leave him. You’ll end your relationship, you’ll let him forget you and you won’t take a single step towards him at work. We almost lost him and I’m making sure that we won’t lose him for good.”

 

_“Jonathan, what are you doing? No!” Dean pleaded. “Stop! Seth!”_

 

Jonathan’s words felt like a punch to the gut. Seth found it difficult to breathe. Jonathan was right: Dean would be better off without him. He loved Dean to bits but he would never forgive himself if Ambrose faded. He pursed his lips and nodded.

“Okay…Y-Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry.” Seth hung his head in resignation.

 

_“No! Jonathan, what are you doing?!”_

Jonathan became silent, his body leaning back and his eyes held a blank look. Seth could tell they were switching and he kept an eye on him until one of them fully takes over. After a few minutes, blue-gray eyes looked around the room, trying to recall his surroundings. When he remembered where he was, Dean turned to Seth.

 

The champion got up from the sofa and grabbed his bag and his laptop, preparing to leave. Inside, though, he was elated that Dean was back but it shattered his heart to know that this would probably the last time he’ll be anywhere near him.

Dean grabbed Seth’s arm, stopping him as he went for the direction of the door. “Seth, no. Don’t listen to him. Don’t…Don’t go.” Ambrose sounded so miserable that it almost broke Seth’s heart. Dean didn’t mean for any of this to happen. But he was unfortunate enough to have two alters who kept sticking their noses in his love life. Seth just stared back at him, his beautiful brown eyes devoid of emotion. His voice lacked emotion as well.

“I’m sorry, Dean. I love you, I really do.”

“Then don’t do this. Don’t listen to them. Listen to _me_! Seth-“

Seth yanked his arm back and walked out of the hotel room, Dean hot on his heels. He managed to lose him when he entered his own hotel room. He closed the door and leaned against it before closing his eyes. He could hear Dean demanding him to open the door and he almost stumbled forward when he felt Dean’s body colliding with the wood in his attempt to get inside.

Dean kept slamming his body against the door, trying to see if it would give but it didn’t. He kicked, punched and clawed at the wood, all the while screaming and begging for Rollins to open the door.

 

“Seth! Open this fucking door right now! I’m serious! Open. This. DOOR!”

 

He kept at it until his right upper arm was mottled with dark bruises, his feet hurt and his knuckles and fingers on both hands were soaked, caked and dripping with blood. He sat outside the door as he tried to steady his breathing once more. From inside the room, it was awfully silent, which gave Dean the thought that maybe Seth was asleep.

He placed his right hand on the door, the hand shaky from the violence he displayed earlier, and he rested his forehead on the cool wood as well.

“Goodnight, Seth,” He cooed, even though it was highly likely that the two-toned man couldn’t hear him. “I really wish I could be in there to kiss you goodnight. I love you, Rollins.”

 

But Seth was far from asleep. He was sitting down on the floor, his back leaning against the door as he listened to what Dean was saying. His words were a bit muffled by the wooden door but he could still understand his ex-lover’s words. Strangely and maybe disturbingly, Dean’s heart-broken voice was soothing him and Seth felt horrible for it. Dean was losing his mind outside this door and here was Seth finding comfort in the broken tone in the Lunatic’s voice.

Dean pulled at his hair, trying to calm himself down. His vision started to blur once more and his ears couldn’t pick up any sound. He pawed at the door again, desperately trying to get some air into his lungs.

 

“S-Seth...Open the door,” He begged, his voice weak and soft. He hated sounding like this, hated having to beg. He covered his mouth as he coughed, the action tearing at his throat. He removed his hand from his mouth and blood was splattered all over his palm. He panicked, knocking on Seth’s door as loud as he could. He heard footsteps approaching but he didn’t care. He _had_ to get inside.

 

“Dean, my god, are you okay?” A deep rumble of a voice called out to him and a warm hand rested on his shoulder. Ambrose looked up and saw Roman and the Usos staring worriedly at him, Jimmy already calling for help on his phone.

Roman held Dean’s face in his hands, trying to see if he was switching but he wasn’t. The Lunatic Fringe was deathly pale and he looked as if he was choking to death. He looked at the door, recognizing it was Seth’s room. He knocked rapidly, calling out Seth’s name.

 

After a few seconds, the two-toned man opened the door and his eyes dropped to Dean on the floor, looking half-dead. He quickly let the four men in, Roman carrying Dean in a fireman’s carry before depositing him on the sofa, Rollins crouching down to meet Dean’s hazy eyes.

“Dean? Dean, look at me. Look at me,” Rollins urged, running his fingers through Dean’s dirty blonde hair in his panic. “Ambrose, I’m right here. Look at me.”

Dean followed Seth’s instruction and turned his attention to him, his eyes slowly turning darker.

“You’re gonna be okay. We’re gonna get help, alright?”

“N-No…”

“Dean, you need a doctor. I’m not talking about a fucking psychologist.  Just try to breathe.”

_“Dean, stay with us. It’s okay. Look, he’s right there. You were thinking that he doesn’t care about you anymore?” Moxley chipped in. “Well, you’ve never been so wrong. He cares about you too much, Ambrose. Enough to leave you just so you’d be okay. He still fucking loves you. He’s right there. Just stay with us. Are you really going to leave him? Look at him.”_

Dean obeyed, looking straight into Seth’s pretty brown eyes. They were filled with so much worry, desperation; love and care that Dean couldn’t stand to leave him.

 

_“_ _Yeah, that’s what I thought. Come on, deep breaths. You know the drill.”_

 

Ambrose took deep breaths, Roman and Seth giving his back a few soothing rubs as they whispered words of reassurance and encouragement. His eyesight went clear again and he could hear what his former Shield brethren were saying. He coughed a few times, his blood landing on Seth’s pants-clad leg and on the carpet. Seth took the hem of his shirt and quickly wiped at Dean’s mouth to get rid of the crimson liquid.

Seth sighed in relief as Jey gave him a bottle of water. Instead of drinking for himself, he twisted the cap off and brought it to Dean’s lips, tipping it so the blonde could drink. Dean gulped down as much as he could, droplets of the water dripping from the corners of his mouth. He pushed the bottle away when he had enough.

Roman kept petting Dean’s hair as the younger man calmed down. “Seth, is he okay?” He asked, his voice filled with concern. Seth nodded, cupping Dean’s cheeks with both hands.

“He’s okay now, right Dean?” Ambrose nodded, still looking dazed and confused             . His eyes were back to their blue-gray shade and he looked at the faces of the men around him.

“T-Thanks, you guys…” He breathed out, tilting his head a bit until he was looking up at Roman, who smiled back at him. “No problem, Dee,” The Samoan answered, messing up Dean’s dark blonde hair. “Brothers ‘till the end, right?”

Dean held up his fist and Roman and Seth held up theirs, in tribute to the Symbol of Excellence. “’Till everything is rubble.” The unhinged man added. Roman just nodded and Jimmy tapped him on the shoulder to tell him they all needed to be downstairs in half an hour.

 

“Guys, we’re leaving in a few minutes. You better pack up.” Roman patted Seth’s back and left them alone, knowing they needed to sort out some shit. The Usos followed after him, shutting the door behind them. Seth sat back on the heels of his feet, looking down at his hands as he listened to Dean’s breaths return to normal. “Thanks, babe,” The Lunatic Fringe said, still breathless from before. “I was fucked back there.”

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t let you die. And besides, you said it yourself: I’m gonna have to run you over with a car to get rid of you.” Seth reminisced back to their FCW days, to that time when he first encountered signs of Dean’s mental disorder. It wasn’t a day he liked to remember. He’s seen a part of Dean that he never should have wanted to in the first place.

 

* * *

 

_“…And I swear to fucking god, I had him right there and fucker just sprayed me with something.” Dean was 25 back then, laid back and the last person Seth would have liked to be with. But yet here they were: Dean’s hotel room, on his bed chatting as if they were boyfriends or something._

 

_Ambrose didn’t really like commitment, so it was reasonable why he was opposed to the term ‘boyfriend’. ‘Friends with Benefits’ seemed close but they don’t have random sex like people like that do. They talk, they argue, they go out on…outings and sometimes, Seth would stay over in Dean’s room for the night and wake up with the blonde’s arm around his body, the covers wrapped around their waists._

 

_“Uh huh,” Seth agreed sarcastically as he rolled to lie on his stomach, staring up at his kayfabe-rival with judgmental eyes. “And when was this ‘supposed’ match, exactly? Against who?”_

_Dean sat cross-legged in front of his lover, reaching over to run his palm across the expanse of Seth’s smooth, muscular back. “Ring of Honor, I told you. Against Zombie Princess.”_

_Rollins nodded in agreement, enjoying the hand on his back. “Ah, right. Jimmy, I should have known. But I don’t recall him spraying you with anything.”_

_“Whatever, you’re impossible.”_

 

_“_ _Hey, Dean?” Seth moved a bit so his head was on Dean’s left thigh._

_“_

_Yep?”_

 

_“You never told me about your time in other indy companies. I mean, I watched some of them but I couldn’t tell if what you were talking about was real or not.”_

_“Everything…” Dean started, his voice soft and almost inaudible. “Everything was real. The blood, the tears, the promos, everything was real. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I hated having to do that everyday for two years.”_

_Seth shouldn’t push it but he needed to know. “Are you sure it’s not because you just like your and other’s blood on your hands? Real talk, Ambrose, you’d do something like that.”_

_Dean became silent, his eyes seeming void of emotion. Seth noticed the sudden silence and pushed himself up to a sitting position. “Ambrose, hey! You okay? Hellooo….”_

_Ambrose remembered everything perfectly: A piece of his skin from his forehead sawed off, his teeth sinking into sweaty flesh, a bloody crooked fork in his hands. A familiar sensation on a heavy jacket sat on his shoulders and for a minute, he was deaf to everything in the world, everything except his sick, deranged subconscious._

_“Dean, what’s wrong with you?” Rollins held Dean by the collar of his white shirt and shook him, hoping to rouse him from whatever stupor he got himself into. “Are you listening to me? Dean! Fucking listen to me!”_

_He was suddenly shoved back on the bed; the blue-eyed man looked absolutely murderous._

 

* * *

 

“Seth? Seth, hey.”

Seth was knocked back to reality when Dean snapped his fingers in front of his face. He looked back up at Dean, who looked okay right now.

“”You spaced out there for a second. You alright?”

The two-toned man nodded and got up to get his bags. “Get your stuff. We’re leaving in half an hour.”

Seth exited the room, leaving the door wide open and Dean sitting on the couch looking at him, confused and trying to figure out what to do now.


	6. 'Sorry' can't fix everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to make Mox an asshole again. *shrugs*
> 
> Warnings include *Deep Breath* : Language, implied past drug use, faggot slurs and implied prostitution. Also, I do NOT own anything you might recognize in this story. I don’t own the wrestlers, the companies or anything mentioned here.

Everyone arrived at the arena at around ten AM and they all went to their respective locker rooms to wait for their matches or promos. Dean was booked for a promo AND a match against some dude he didn’t know yet.

It’s cool, he’s used to it. But Seth ignoring him was like a knife in his chest. As soon as they stepped in the arena, Rollins made sure that he never made eye contact with the unhinged man, never spoke to him. Not a single wish of “Good luck out there” or “Kick their asses, will ya, babe?” Nothing and it was painful.

He threw his bag down on the floor of his locker room, getting out of his street clothes and changing into his ring gear. He didn’t know why but whenever he would tape up his wrists for a match, it would always bring back some sort of memory, some more painful than others.

 

 

**[Flashback]**

_Dean stood there in the middle of the ring while Wyatt rambled on and on about God knows what. The blonde cracked his knuckles as he kept sneering and baring his teeth like a threatened caged animal. Bray knows how to get under his skin. Like, deep under his skin. Deep enough to strike a chord that Dean never knew was there to begin with._

_The Lunatic Fringe paced inside the ring, anxious to leave but he couldn’t. ‘Just stay in character. Little while longer now.’_

_There was one part of the promo, however, that made him break character._

_“What do you have to lose?!” Bray demanded, standing up from his chair and pointing at the blonde in the ring. “What do you have to lose, Dean? I mean-“  Wyatt paused, as if he was looking right into Dean’s memories._

_“Your own father turned his back on you.”_

_Dean stopped his pacing, glaring at the bearded man with an unexplainable look in his blue eyes. What was it, fear? Guilt? Anger? He wasn’t sure but he was sure it hit him like fucking train._

_“Tell me, Dean, “ Wyatt continued his verbal attacks. “Does he still send you postcards from prison?”_

_The blonde walked up the ramp and he momentarily forgot that the lights were supposed to go out. He was in darkness for only a few measly seconds but it brought up bad memories. Memories of lying down on a stranger’s bed while he was covered with sweat, blood, drying cum and spit. Memories of sitting down in his shitty room, waiting for one of his friends to come by to give him his next fix._

_When the lights came back on, his stumbled forward when a voice screamed into his ear, “RUN!” before the lights went out and on again._

**[End of flashback]**

 

Dean shook his head as he tried to get the memory out of his mind. He had to be focused. So what if Rollins wasn’t talking to him? No big deal. He finished wrapping the white tape around his wrists and then picked up the black tape and repeated the process.

He couldn’t sit still for one second. His hands or feet would be doing something: Tapping on surfaces, his hands gripping at air, his feet kicking at someone’s leg, something. Roman said it was ADHD, that it was because he was too hyper and that his focus couldn’t stay on one task for long.

 

There was a knock on his door. “Door’s unlocked.” He called out, pacing back and forth in the room. Stephanie opened the door and entered, behind her was a man dressed in a flannel shirt, jeans and sneakers.

 

“Ambrose, are you busy?” The woman asked, her tone sounding concerned. Dean shook his head, his bangs falling into his eyes.

“No, not at all. Is…Am I in trouble? Is this about me pissing under the ring last week? Because I swear to god: I used a bottle.”

Stephanie raised an eyebrow at the statement. “No, this is not about that, though we may have to talk to you about that tomorrow,” She cleared her throat before gesturing to the man behind her. “This is Dr. Denzel Croft, our company psychologist and he-“

Dean squinted his eyes at the word ‘psychologist’ and he took a step back, his eyes switching between his superior and the man. “No, stop right there.” He held a hand up and his lips curled into a nervous smile.

 

“I appreciate the help, Steph, but no. I don’t need help.”

 

Stephanie tilted her head as if silently telling Dean not to oppose her. “No? Well, Rollins said that you do.”

“Yeah, well maybe you shouldn't believe a word your little golden boy says,” Dean snapped, angrily tugging at his wrist tape, the shoe almost hitting his boss’ shoulder. “I don’t need help, really. I'm perfectly fine, now if you don't mind, I have a promo to do.”

Stephanie shrugged her shoulders. “Alright. But if you want to talk, just tell me and I’ll send for Dr. Croft.”

 

And with that, Dean was left alone in his locker room again. He couldn’t believe it. Seth fucking told them, even when he knew that that was exactly what he didn’t want. He shook the anger out of his system as he went out the door. He first went to the Catering area, where he almost scared the personnel shitless. He gave them a warning look and they all went back to their activities.

Dean got a candy bar from the snack machine and a bottle of Gatorade before he sat down on a table away from everyone else, having the feeling that they didn’t want to sit with him anyway. He unwrapped the candy and took a bite when AJ sat in front of him, carrying a plate of food that Dean didn’t bother remembering the name of.

“Uh, Dean or…?” She drifted off, not wanting to offend or get a violent reaction out of the man.

“Dean.” The blonde answered simply, taking another bite of his candy bar.

AJ calmed and took her fork and proceeded to eat. “Hey, Dean?”

 

“Hm?”

AJ swallowed the food in her mouth before asking, “How many alters do you have? Are you the main alter or what?”

 

Dean twisted the cap off of his Gatorade and took a sip. “As far as I know, there are five of us in here,” He waved his hand over his chest. “There’s me, there’s Moxley-“

“Wait, Moxley as in…Jon Moxley?” The Diva questioned, completely bewildered. “Like, from CZW? I thought that was just a wrestling persona.”

“Well, yes and no. Like…I-I don’t know how to explain but bottom line is that Mox is more than just a wrestling persona,” The Lunatic took another sip. “So me, Mox, two other alters that I don’t know the names of and Jonathan, the main alter that you were referring to. He’s also the alter you saw a few days ago.”

 

AJ took another mouthful of her food. “So your eyes change color when you switch between one another?”

 

Dean gave her a confused look. “I-I don’t know, do we?”

 

“Yeah, like you have blue-grays, right? When we encountered Jonathan, he had sky blues.”

 

“I never noticed before.”

 

AJ finished up her food and said goodbye before walking away. Dean drank the rest of his drink, threw the bottle in the Recycle bin before going to stand by the curtain, waiting for his cue. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and wasn’t given a time to react or say anything when Seth embraced him. Dean didn’t know what else to do so he wrapped his arms around the half-blonde’s waist.

 

“Good luck out there.” Seth whispered before pulling away. Dean smiled at him and thanked him. His music blared through the speakers and he stepped out and the crowd went wild. He walked down the ramp and on either side of him, people reached out in hopes of touching him. Luckily, for Dean, they were out of reach so he slid into the ring without much problem. He picked up the microphone that was placed at the top of the steel steps for him and he paced around in the ring as he waited for the crowd to settle down.

 

“People say that I’m…crazy,” Dean dragged the last word out, almost like he was emphasizing it. “I mean, just a few minutes ago, I was referred to a psychologist for problems that I don’t think I have. I’m hyper, I get it, and I’m easily irritable. So what?”

The crowd cheered for him, holding up their banners. Again, Dean waited until the people quieted down to a whisper. “Ever since I was a young boy, I’ve always been this way. Granted, I probably picked up a few things that messed me up along the way but that’s fine. I can live with it.”

The promo continued normally, Dean talking about a new feud with Rollins and that he’ll be going for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber. The promo drifted to something different, however, and the crowd seemed to notice how dark it was becoming.

 

Meanwhile, in the Authority’s office, Seth watched the scene unfold as he sat down on a couch. The cameras zoomed in on his face when Dean became silent. Seth didn’t know if the audience noticed how the Lunatic Fringe’s eyes slowly darkened and Seth was out the door before he knew it, J&J Security hot on his heels. They couldn’t let Seth go alone, not when he has a role to maintain. Seth grabbed a microphone when he got behind the curtain and he demanded for the technical crew to play his music.

 

Once the music blared through the speakers, Seth took a deep breath to get into his ‘Golden Boy’ mindset before he stepped out, his steps calm and confident. The crowd made their hatred for him known but Seth had his eyes set on Moxley, who stared at him with wild, angry eyes.

 

“What in the hell are you talking about, Ambrose?” Rollins questioned, subtly telling Dean to come back. He feared that this would happen and he was expecting it would eventually. But now that they were in this predicament, Seth didn’t know what to do but stay in character.

Moxley chuckled into the mic he held, the sound bone-chilling yet oddly arousing at the same time. “Well, whaddya know? I was wondering when you were gonna show up, Tyler.”

 

Seth froze up at Moxley’s mention of his previous wrestling name. The crowd was confused and they looked back and forth between him and the man in the ring. Rollins raised his eyebrow, careful not to break out of character, as he replied, “I think you’re drunk, Ambrose. Somebody, escort this man home, please-“

 

“No, no,” Moxley opposed with a mischievous smile on his face. “Man, these people have no clue who you are, do they?”

 

‘Shit, no,’ Seth thought to himself, walking towards the ring as Jon kept talking.

 

“They have no idea that their champion used to work for a fetish wrestling company!”

 

And there it was: Seth’s entire reputation and what was left of his dignity, thrown out the window. He stopped in his tracks, looking up at Mox with a desperate pleading look. He didn’t care if he was off-script anymore. This had to stop before it got worse.

Mox looked at Tyler from the ring. Man, this was fun. He finally got to have payback for all those things Tyler did to Dean. And doing it in front of a live audience and the entire world? That was glorious. “Ladies and gentlemen, your champion was nothing more than a faggot who wrestled people in barely-there clothing. Search it up if you don’t believe me.”

Seth didn’t need to turn his head to see that some people already had their phones and tablets out. He brought the mic closer to his lips but he didn’t know what to say to make everything okay. This was beyond repair but Seth knows that it wasn’t Dean’s fault. He would never do this.

Mox leaned forward, the ropes supporting his weight as he stared down at the younger man. “What do you have to say for yourself, Tyler?”

 

The champion gripped the mic before throwing it aside and running to the safety of the backstage area. But even there, he wasn’t safe from humiliation. Some of the superstars and crew looked at their phones, their expressions ranging from intrigue to disgust to amuse. Seth just slumped down to the floor and hid his face in his hands. Joey and Jamie came in a few seconds after him, making sure he was alright.

 

“Leave me alone.” Seth requested, his voice small and hushed so he wouldn’t bring any attention to himself. But his security was persistent and he was forced to snap back at them to leave him be and they obediently went back to the office, leaving the Armenian to wallow in his shame.

 

In the ring, the crowd noticed how silent ‘Dean’ became once more before blinking rapidly a few times, his neck twitching a bit. He looked around, trying to piece together what happened when it dawned on him: Moxley had revealed Seth’s past to everyone, referred to him as Tyler and humiliated him in front of millions of people watching around the world. He dropped the mic and ran backstage, calling out Seth’s name only to find him sitting on the floor a few steps from the curtain.

 

Without hesitation, he knelt down next to him. “Seth, I-I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I just-“

His sentence was cut short by a quick yet painful jab at his jaw. He fell back onto the floor, holding his mouth and occasionally looking at it to check for blood or teeth.

Seth stood up, glaring daggers down at Ambrose. “You think that ‘sorry’ will make everything okay? Do you think that ‘sorry’ will make those people forget? I trusted you, Dean!”

“But that wasn’t me!” The blonde defended, standing up as well. “You know that I would never humiliate you like that. Seth, I’m sorry.”

“’Sorry’ won’t fix my career, Dean! It won’t fix any of this!” Seth yelled back. “I wish that you did die last night! I should have left you out that door, gasping for air until they found you dead! Maybe that would have made my life easier! Better yet, I wish I never met you!”

Seth stomped away, leaving Dean frozen in place. Dean tried to convince himself that Seth was just humiliated and that he didn’t mean any of it. He breathed in and out, saving himself the trouble of fading in the middle of a show.

 

Seth ran to his locker room, locked the door and sat down on the bench. What was he going to do now? This wasn’t something he could fix by pretending it didn’t happen. He wiped the tears that had already dribbled out of his eyes as he attempted to think of a way to explain this to Hunter. Dean was going to get in trouble for this for sure. Seth had remembered what Hunter said and he was worried for Dean.

He sprung up in his seat when he thought about his conversation with the Lunatic. He threw the door open, only to see Dean sitting in front of the door. The blonde looked up at him with an expectant and tired look and Seth knelt down in front of him, checking for any signs of breathlessness. Luckily, there were none and the two-toned man felt relieved.

“You know everything about my problems now, huh?” Dean joked, pushing himself up to his feet, Seth doing the same.

Seth nodded sheepishly. “Well, I have to. Y’know, to take care of you.”

 

“Sure that you still wanna stay with me?”

 

“Of course I do. You may be irritating at times but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you all the more because of it.”

Dean looked down to his shoes and mumbled, “Sorry for what happened. You know I’d never do something like that.”

Seth cupped Dean’s face with both hands, making the Lunatic Fringe look at him in the eyes. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t choose to be this way. I’ll…I’ll take care of this.”

Dean nodded and asked Seth if he would be busy later.

 

Seth gave him a suspicious look. “I don’t think so. Why?”

 

“No reason. I just wanted to know if you’d be up for what I’ve got planned for later.” The unhinged man answered with a fake innocent smile. He started to walk towards the end of the hall to his locker room and Seth spoke up.

 

“And what might that be?”

 

Dean turned around, his smile turning into a knowing smirk. He kept walking backwards as he replied, “Oh, you’re gonna have to wait, champ. I’ll see you later.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell that I'm so bad at coordinating fighting/arguing scenes?


	7. Meet the Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all a work of fiction and I do not confirm that anything mentioned here is/has been true. I am not, in any way, thinking that rape and sexual abuse are okay.

The show was finally done and Seth made his way back to the locker room after his match with Ryback, his body aching and his head felt as if it was ran over by a steam roller. The crowd had picked up a chant about his time in Cyberfights so that was a bit of a bummer.

The only good thing that came out of this night was that Dean didn’t get in much trouble, just a talk with Hunter and Steph and that was it. The two-toned man was relieved, of course, but he knew that Hunter wasn’t going to accept a slip-up like that next time, especially if said slip-up would happen in the middle of a televised show.

 

Seth stashed his gear and clothes into his bag and turned to leave, only to almost suffer a heart attack when confronted by a very sneaky Randy Orton leaning against the door frame. The tatted man seemed to be amused at the champion’s jolt, waiting until the younger superstar had settled down before saying, “So…Cyberfights, huh?”

Seth rolled his eyes. “Ugh, if you’re just going to make me feel even worse, don’t bother. I couldn’t possibly feel any more like shit after what happened tonight.”

“That’s not what I came here for,” Randy picked at his nails before continuing. “What in the fuck happened to Ambrose back there? Why was he calling you Tyler? And yeah, I know he has Multiple Personality or whatever, but why would he still call you that?”

“It’s what he, Moxley, came to know me as. He had a brief visit back in Ring of Honor, though we never had a match together. Mox became so used to calling me Tyler that even when he had a new personality, he’d still call me that whenever he’d, y’know, take over.”

Randy just stared at him, confused. “You lost me.”

Seth breathed out a quick sigh of frustration. “Whatever. I’m not going to explain all that again.”

 

Dean appeared behind Randy, looking a bit surprised to find that Seth has a visitor other than him. “Am I interrupting?”

Randy turned to him and clapped him on the shoulder. “Nah, man. I was just asking Rollins what happened out there. No offense but you need help, dude.”

Dean gave him a playful smile. “Man, if I had a dollar for every time someone told me that, I’d be able to buy a PS4 or something.”

“Probably something even more expensive.” Seth joined in as he grabbed his bag. Randy wished them a good night before going back to his locker room to get his own gear.

 

The Lunatic turned his attention back to Seth. “If you had to explain my incredibly complicated-to-explain disorder to someone again, I’m sorry.”

Seth shook his head, turning off the lights in his locker room and closing the door. “Nah, it’s not that hard to explain when you’re used to it. It’s kinda like memorizing lines for a play.”

 

“Of course, you would know something about that, right?”

“Shut up. So what did you have in mind, exactly?”

The blonde resisted the urge to smile, keeping that perfectly-trained poker face as his current expression. “We just have to wait until we get back to the hotel.”

 

They got to the parking lot, the two deciding that Seth’s car was better to ride in than Dean’s beat-up pick-up truck, no matter how well it can still run. They drove in silence the rest of the way: Dean sitting in the passenger seat, his head leaned back against the headrest as his eyes were closed. Seth cataloged that as something that had to do with Dean ‘communicating’ with his alters. The faint snore was what made him change his mind. Or maybe he’s just sleeping.

After a good fifteen minutes of driving, they finally arrived at the hotel. Seth looked over at where Dean sat, pouting a bit when he saw that the Lunatic Fringe was still asleep. Without looking away, Seth slammed his palm against the car’s horn, jolting the blonde awake.

Dean sat up abruptly on his seat, his eyes wild and his hands held up and ready to strike any threat. Seth tried to hide a giggle but the blonde caught it. “You fucking asshole.” He muttered as he opened the door on his side and exited the car. Seth followed his movements, mumbling an apology to Dean as they walked into the building.

They were in the elevator when Dean started to have that far-off look again and Seth knew that what he was seeing in front of him was just a vacant body with no prominent alter.

 _‘Okay,’_ He thought to himself. _‘So he doesn’t need to close his eyes to talk to his alters, then.’_

 

Every information he knows about Ambrose is crucial and even just the slightest twitch could mean something important. Seth knows that his lover’s neck twitches in between switching, he knows every mannerism the three have: Dean likes to clench and unclench his fists when bored or threatened, Moxley’s hands are a lot twitchier and he tends to hold up his hand to point at someone with his hand looking slightly like a crooked rock hand gesture and Jonathan wipes at his jeans and tap at his collarbone.

They reached their designated floor and Seth gently shook Dean back, the latter’s eyes becoming more focused as he grabbed their bags. The walk down the hallway was silent and awkward so Seth was more than relieved, and a little excited, when they finally got inside Dean’s room. They set their bags down by the foot of the bed and Dean sat down on the mattress, his hands on either side of him and he looked up at Seth like a child expecting a gift.

 

Seth crossed his arms and said, “So, what did you have in mind?”

Dean reached down to open the champion’s bag, digging past the WWE World Heavyweight title belt before pulling out Seth’s red silk tie. He covered his eyes with the cloth and reached back to tie it at the back of his head. Meanwhile, Seth watched him, a bit intrigued as to what the other was planning.

“Alright,” Dean finally answered once he was finished tying the garment. “Your reminder to whenever I change is by my eyes, right?” Seth nodded but remembered the Dean couldn’t see him so he made his confirmation vocal.

 

Dean’s head jerked a bit instead of fully nodding. “Well, you’re gonna try to figure out exactly what makes us tick, okay? Oh, you’re probably still standing, huh?” The blonde man reached his left hand out, gripping onto Seth’s wrist when he found it. “Sit down ‘cause we’re gonna take a while. I’m going to teach you how we knew what our triggers are.”

 

“Wait, triggers?”

 

“Yeah, the stuff that makes us come out. Mox and Jonathan aren’t the only alters I have, y’know.”

Seth’s brown eyes widened at the thought of Dean having more alters. “Wait, Dean, I don’t know if I could do this.”

“Sure you can. Alright, let’s get started.”

Dean moved up on the bed until he reached the headboard. He leaned against it, his head tilted back, legs stretched out in front of him and his hands lay palm-down against his thighs. He took several deep breaths before speaking up. “You still with me?”

Seth swallowed the nervous lump in his throat and muttered a “Yes.”

Dean nodded this time. “Good, because I’m gonna have each and every one of us tell you about…well…us. I’ll be telling you everything about me, Dean, last. You ready?”

 

The two-toned man rested his hand on Dean’s leg and squeezed once and Dean understood. The Lunatic Fringe took one last deep breath (as Dean, anyway) before going silent. The silence was making Seth worry. What if something goes wrong and he wouldn’t know what to do? After a few more seconds of unbearable stillness, the man’s neck twitched briefly and ‘Dean’s’ lips quirked up to a smirk, though only the right side of his face seemed to be showcasing it.

 

“Guess who?” The alter said with an amused voice. Seth looked down at the blonde’s hands and sure enough, the twitching of the fingers gave the identity of the alter away.

 

“Hey, Mox.” Seth gave a small smile, knowing that the ultraviolent man wouldn’t see it.

 

Moxley’s hands were jerking, as if they were anxious to get a hold of something, but he kept them on his lap.

 

“So, my name is Jon Moxley. I am a few months older, quote-unquote, than Dean because I’ve been with Jonathan longer than Dean has so we kind of age differently. I existed when Jonathan started to doubt his self-worth and I fully came to be when he was doing self-harm. I am the-“ He raised his hands up but kept his wrists in contact with his jeans as he made a quote-unquote gesture.

“Second layer of the Jonathan-Moxley-Dean onion and I only come out when the situation becomes extremely out of hand or when I see the situation as too much for Ambrose to handle. Or when there’s a fight that could possibly harm Dean, then I step in. I’ve been with the Core for a lot longer than he lets on, even as young as the age of five. He thought that I was just an imaginary friend and that I would go away as he grew up. But life got tougher in the streets of Cinci and that’s how I was technically born.”

He cleared his throat before continuing. “I’m not saying that glass shards and forks and nails don’t hurt me but I have a higher tolerance of pain so there’s that. My triggers for when I come out are situations of violence, feelings of resentment, threat and that’s probably it. You have any questions for me?”

Seth pursed his lips. “You’re older than Dean by a few months.”

“Yeah?”

“How do you celebrate birthdays?”

“Well,” Jon lets out laugh that seemed more like a huffy breath than actual laughter. “Here’s the thing: Between ourselves, we celebrate our birthdays separately but we celebrate Jonathan’s birthday as our own for everyone to see. When someone asks Dean, or me, when our birthday is, we reply with Jonathan’s birthday. You get where I’m going with here?”

Seth squeezed at Mox’s leg and Jon understood the signal as well. “One last question.”

Mox nodded. “Shoot.”

“How did you come to be?”

Mox’s face squinted a bit and Seth didn’t need to see his eyes to know that Jon’s eyes were narrowed. “I already explained it to you-“

“No, I mean, _how_?”

Moxley calmed and became silent. Seth didn’t know if he was switching or if he was talking to Dean.

 

**[Flashback]**

_It was a Monday after school when it happened. Jonathan was just walking down the street, one of the straps of his bag pack ruined as he held on to the other one, dragging it along as he walked._

_School that day was terrible: He got beat up by a couple of guys from the football team because they thought he was checking out the quarterback’s girl.  In his defense, she wasn’t even that hot, which only seemed to have angered the beefed-up boneheads even more. They busted his lip, gave him a black eye and took his lunch money, which was a measly 15 dollars._

_Jonathan decided to walk a bit faster when he neared a very familiar street corner. He saw his mom in the corner of his eye, leaning against a filthy brick wall, smoking a cigarette. The seventeen year-old barely made it past the next block when he was suddenly yanked back into a dark alley, his bag forgotten on the sidewalk._

_He was pushed against a wall, a large hand covered his mouth with a damp cloth. Jonathan kicked and clawed at the attacker but was out like a light a few seconds after inhaling a strange odor from the filthy rag._

 

_He was kept in an old hotel room, tied to a chair and naked as the day he was born, only to be raped over and over again until the seat was dripping blood at the sides from his probably destroyed ass and his eyes were filled with tears. A few times, he was whipped with an old belt, the metal clasp making contact with his pale skin until his back and thighs were mottled with dark bruises and cuts. The whole time, his kidnapper wore a plain white mask with holes for his eyes. Jonathan decided that it was better that way. He didn’t want to see the fucker’s face every time he closed his eyes to sleep. He wanted to go home. Any place was better than here. When he was allowed to go back to his own home, it made him decide that he would never go outside again._

 

_He was brought to the park downtown and, right there in front of mothers, their sons, young and old people, he was stripped of his tattered jeans and underwear and was ruthlessly abused. His captor laughed at his pain and tears, relishing the minor’s screams and pleads of mercy. Jonathan, in those few days, knew nothing but to beg: Beg for his life to not be cut short, beg for sleep and rest and nourishment, beg to not be raped multiple times a day. Now, in the most humiliating and degrading moment of his life, he learned how to beg for strangers to not look at him. But people looked on, horrified but did nothing to stop it._

_Finally, it was over but Jonathan found himself tied naked to a tree with the words “SLUT” spraypainted on his bare stomach. It took the police a while to get to him, but it was enough time for Jon to start talking to Jonathan as a voice in his head._

 

_Jonathan started to experience something weird during the time he was held as a sex toy. He started to hear a voice in his head, telling him to break free of his bonds. He couldn’t explain it and he didn’t want to think about it. He needed to get away from the horrid nightmare and he was willing to do anything._

_Since then, Jonathan gave full control of his body over to his new self, Jon Moxley. He felt bad sitting back in his own subconscious and watching people mock and criticize Mox but he seemed to be doing just fine._

_Jonathan was finally safe but he knew that they would never be normal again._

**[Flashback ends]**

 

“Mox?” Seth called, straddling Jon’s hips to get a bit closer. He slapped at the blonde’s cheeks, yanked the soft hair and screamed into his ear and still nothing. Seth was starting to get desperate. He didn’t know what to do anymore to bring Jon back from whatever trance he got himself into.

“Jon? Hey, come back, man!” The champion’s voice shook a bit as he yanked the tie down until it hung around the other man’s neck. He then cupped Jon’s face with both hands and looked into his eyes, which appeared distant and somehow fearful, as if he was reminiscing a bad memory.

After a while, Jon took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his lips quirking up to that ever-playful smirk. “You’re not supposed to take off the blindfold until we’re done.” He said, keeping his eyes closed as he reached for the tie again.

 

Seth looked at him with concern as the alter replaced the garment back on his eyes and settled his hands on his lap once more. More silence followed and the two-toned man obediently waited for the next personality to come out. A full minute went by before the telltale neck twitch happened and the man (whoever he may be at the moment) bit his bottom lip.

 

“Seth?” He called out, his voice sounding scared and confused. He reached up for the blindfold but the younger wrestler stopped him.

“It was Dean’s idea,” The Armenian explained and Jonathan lowered his hand back down to his lap. “Do you know what to do?”

“Yeah,” The blonde took a moment before speaking. “I’m Jonathan Good and I’m the main personality or the Core. I am the same age as Jon Moxley and I am the person that he and Dean are supposed to protect. My triggers are extreme fear and paranoia, unhappiness and I come out whenever both protectors have an argument. I started to dissociate at a sort of late age of 17 and from then on, more and more problems have been stacked on my psyche. Questions?”

 

“Uh…” Seth bit his lips to hold back the possibly triggering question. “I think it’s best if I _didn’t_ ask the question. Thanks, Jonathan.”

Jonathan nodded and gave him a thankful smile, probably for the reason that Seth was considerate enough to not ask the question he had in mind. He leaned his head back against the wooden headboard again and it was time to wait again.

Even though the switching process was short, it made Seth anxious. He didn’t like to wait, especially if it involved Dean and his alters. If he took too long between switching, then something must be horribly wrong and the younger wrestler wouldn’t know what to do.

 

Seth looked at his lover’s face. Not much to look at because his eyes were covered and it was a shame because they’re really pretty, most notably when the blonde was swapping between alters. Those blue-grays (Though, Seth would prefer to call them ‘baby-blues’) always had this vacant look in them and it made the older man appear uncharacteristically vulnerable. It wasn’t something Seth was would get used to, since each alter always filled the orbs with such intense emotion: Moxley showcasing anger and intimidating dominance whilst Jonathan was always exhibiting fear and submissiveness in the orbs. Dean was probably the only one to find the perfect balance and it was what drew the two-toned man in from the moment they first met in FCW.

The World Heavyweight champion was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Dean’s thigh jerk under his hand. He looked up and was a bit puzzled when he saw that ‘Dean’ was slowly starting to strip out of his clothes, first his jacket then he pulled his black shirt over his head and threw it aside.

 

Seth wasn’t complaining. Don’t get him wrong: He’s more than happy to see his lover strip in front of him but it wasn’t the same when it’s not _him_. “Uh, Dean?” He croaked out, guessing that it’s probably Dean and the Lunatic Fringe was feeling a bit too warm, even though the AC was full blast and Seth still felt cold under his jacket.

The alter stopped and flashed Seth a flirtatious, toothy grin. “Hey, hot stuff,” He greeted, leaning forward until he was on his hands and knees and his face just a few inches from Seth’s. “I don’t know what the blindfold is for but I’m not complaining. I think it’s pretty kinky of you to blind me like this.”

Seth could feel his face heat up as he heard ‘Dean’s’ voice talk in such a way. Seth still didn’t know who this alter was, didn’t know if it was just Mox trying to make a pass at him again but the Armenian knew that Moxley wasn’t this…rowdy.

The younger superstar shivered when he felt a hand on his stomach, he barely noticed that the hem of shirt was pushed up to his armpits. The highly-suggestive man stopped and chuckled a bit.

 

“Oh, right. Ambrose wanted me to do something,” He flopped back to the same sitting position as before. “Well, my name doesn’t matter. All you need to know about me is that I get whatever I want, whenever I want. Men and women just line up in front of me on their hands and knees, waiting to suck and get pounded by my dick. My triggers are when Deanie boy is feeling a bit too frisky without someone to help with that, feelings of extreme arousal and desperation.”

Seth focused his attention on the alter’s hands, which were doing either very crude and provocative hand movements or making flicking actions with his thumb and middle finger.

 

“Well, Ambrose is telling me to get a move-on so I’ll see you soon, buttercup.” And with that it was silent again, Seth settling his hand on Dean’s right one. It took a few seconds longer before he was alerted by the neck twitches and he was filled with nervous anticipation to see who this was.

The blonde took a deep breath before saying, “Hello. Uh, okay, Dean told me what to do here so I’m gonna make this quick. I don’t have a name and I’m not a frequent alter but I am basically the only positive alter that we have. I help the primary protectors in getting the Core under control when he gets overcome by paranoia and delusions and I act as their all-around cheerleader, saying words of encouragement whenever one of them feels down and reminding them of their accomplishments and goals. I don’t really have that many triggers since I don’t come out so often but, like Moxley, I come out as a last resort tactic. Triggers include extreme depression and loneliness. That’s it.”

 

Before Seth could say anything else, the alter was already gone and was probably swapping with Dean right now. He traced random patterns on his lover’s bare stomach, fighting the urge to lean forward and plant a kiss on the smooth, toned flesh. He decided to settle on laying his head down on Dean’s belly and wait until he surfaces.

It didn’t take long but Dean’s voice still startled the younger man. “Seth, what are you doing?”

Seth sat up straight and cleared his throat. “I was just…uh…”

Dean flashed a smile, his dimples making him looking adorable and Seth wanted nothing more than to suck at them. “Stay focused, champ. You might need this info in the future.”

 

The Lunatic Fringe adjusted the blindfold so it didn’t inch down any further. “So, you and the rest of the world know me by Dean Ambrose. I’m probably the youngest of all the alters at 29 years of age. I am the primary abuse-taker and the mask for Jonathan’s thoughts so he could communicate with the outside world but not directly. I came to be when Jon was having way too much fun putting our body on the line in the indies and in that time, I was created and I took Mox’s place as the primary protector. I don’t really have any triggers because I am the mask but situations of near-death and feelings of anxiety. Questions?”

Seth pulled the blindfold down as he straddled Dean’s hips, his brown eyes gazing into bright baby blues. The champion leaned down to kiss his lover’s lips, loving the squeak of surprise that came from Dean’s mouth. Eventually, Dean melted into the kiss, bringing a hand up to the back of the two-toned man’s head to pull him a bit closer.

The kiss itself was soft and slow, which was something Dean wasn’t used to but he tried not to let his teeth get involved in such a sweet act. Seth’s mouth tasted faintly like strawberries and the Lunatic Fringe briefly wondered why. But he pushed the curiosity into the back of his head to worry about later. Right now, he focused on how soft and sweet Seth’s lips were and it was getting harder and harder for Dean to not bite the bottom one.

Eventually, they pulled away for air, Dean’s eyes never leaving Seth’s brown ones. “So, have you learned something today?”

Seth nodded and leaned until his and Dean’s foreheads touched. “You have no idea how much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last two alters are so bad! I'm sorry if there are any misconceptions and errors here. I have done research and made do with the information I was provided.
> 
> The next chapter will be the FINAL chapter, and probably an epilogue. I’ll see you in the final chapter!~


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter is overly domestic and not really all that interesting compared to some of the previous chapters but I figured that the epilogue would make up for that so...
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read, review, and bookmark this fanfic. Thanks so much for the support and I really appreciate it!

The next morning, Seth awoke with his head resting on Dean’s muscular chest, the latter’s left arm draped across the champion’s back. He laid there for a while, his left hand resting on Dean’s right one. It was so…domestic in a way and it filled Seth’s heart with happiness and contentment and Seth was more than happy to wake up next to the Lunatic everyday for the rest of his life.

The two-toned man pushed himself up to a sitting position, Dean’s arm falling somewhere behind him. Dean groaned in protested and pulled Seth closer, forcing him to lie back down.

 

“Dean, I have to get up,” Seth said with no real urgency behind his voice. “I have a photoshoot to go to.”

 

Dean grumbled something in a sort-of agreement and let the younger superstar up to shower and get dressed. The Lunatic Fringe sat up on the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he watched his lover run around the room to rummage through his bags or to fix his hair in front of a mirror. Dean made the decision to follow after him and he caught up with the champ in front of the bathroom mirror spraying a bit of cologne on his wrists before rubbing some of it on his neck.

The blonde hugged his from behind and closed his sleepy baby blues as he settled his head on the crook of Seth’s neck, getting a whiff of his fancy-smelling cologne. “When will you get back? Before Main Event?”

Seth set the cologne down on the bathroom sink. “Yeah, you booked for tonight?”

“Nah, they’re giving me a week’s suspension for what happened last night. Mox is sorry about that, though.”

“Sure he is.” Seth tapped at Dean’s arms to signal that he needed to go and Dean immediately loosened the hug so Seth can run around the hotel room again, this time busying himself by putting on his shoes and a snapback cap. Dean stepped out of the bathroom and his lover was pretty much ready to go, bag in one hand and phone in the other.

 

He walked up to him and the younger one was too engrossed in his probable phone conversation to notice until Dean covered the screen with his hand. Seth was forced to look up.

“Be safe, you hear?” Dean advised and Seth put his phone in pocket before cupping Dean’s face with both hands.

The two-toned man nodded. “I will. Call me if something goes wrong here, okay?”

A quick peck on the lips was all Seth left Dean for the day before he was out of the door. Dean felt a smile creep across his lips.

 

_“You’re so corny sometimes, you know that?” Moxley teased but Dean knows that it was nothing more than a joke._

“Sometimes, corny is just the way to go. It just so happens that Seth really digs that crap.”

_“Whatever. You sure that telling him about_ us _is a good idea?”_

 

“Well, if he’s gonna live with us, he should know. He’s the only one who deals with all of our bullshit.” Dean plopped himself down onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what he should do now. Seth probably brought his laptop with him so Netflix and gaming was out. He could always watch T.V. but nothing interesting was ever shown 8 AM. His headache was killing him and he felt so nauseous. Exhaustion was one of the many downsides of having DID.

He closed his eyes, concluding to just check in on Jonathan and Jon.

 

 

A few minutes before midnight, Dean heard the door creak open and close. He’d been sitting on the bed the same position as he did yesterday: Back against the headboard, legs close together and stretched out in front of him and hands palm-down on his thighs. This was the position he was most comfortable in when talking to his alters and he must’ve looked as if he had a yard stick for a spine. But Seth knew better than that and he placed a hand on Dean’s thigh to let him know he was there before he sat down.

 

“How’d the photoshoot go?” Dean asked, keeping his eyes closed. His right hand found its way to the one on his thigh. “You a full-time model yet or what?”

Seth had to laugh at that last bit. The blonde was always telling Seth to go into modelling since he clearly has the body for it. The two-toned man would always change the subject every time.

It wasn’t any different this time. “Have you been sitting like this all day?”

Dean shrugged. “Pretty much. Didn’t know what else to do.”

 

“Didn’t you get hungry?”

 

“At one point, I did, but a granola bar fixed that. Tell me more about this photoshoot, though.”

 

Seth scratched at the back of his neck. “It was just for the network, really. They were looking for you, y’know.”

The Lunatic Fringe opened his eyes at that. “They were?”

The younger man nodded. “I just told them that you weren’t feeling well.”

 

It was partially true: Dean would be exhausted swapping between Moxley and Seth could only imagine how much pain Dean is in right now. The blonde smiled thankfully at that, grateful that Seth understood. He brought his knees up and wrapped his arms around his legs. He cleared his throat.

“Uh, Seth? Remember when you told Steph that I needed…y’know? Help?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I was thinking…maybe I do need help.”

Seth stiffened at that statement. He remembered what Moxley had told him the week before.

 

_‘What makes you think that Dean is the one that’s going to stay?’_

 

“Are…Are you sure?”

Dean nodded. “I just think that you shouldn’t have to deal with us…er…me forever, even though you say that you’re okay with it.”

“Jon told me that-“

“I wouldn’t exist anymore? Yeah, maybe, maybe not. But it’s something I’m willing to deal with.”

Seth took a deep breath and looked into Dean’s beautiful baby blue eyes, wondering if he was ever going to see that calming shade again. “Only if you’re absolutely sure. And I’d still be here for you, no matter what.”

Dean pulled Seth in for an embrace.

 

 

_“You’re not actually going to go through with it, are you?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s it, the final chapter of ‘Tell me who You are’. To be honest, I’m kind of sad that this has come to an end buuuutttt…notice the cliffhanger in the end? That’s right: An epilogue will be on its way. Sorry if this chapter is a short. But I didn’t want to make it too long, besides it’s all going to be continued in the epilogue anyway.


	9. Epilogue

"Dean?"

 

Dean grumbled something incoherent before trying to open his eyes, the sudden brightness from the windows seemed to burn  his face. He covered himself once more with the blanket, trying to get back to sleep but Seth abruptly pulled the covers away from him.

"Dean, come on. Roman's waiting for us downstairs." Seth quickly walked over to the bed to press a quick kiss to the sleepy man's forehead, hoping that would help him wake up a little more. 

Dean was about to say something sarcastic but the quick kiss calmed him down enough calmly answer. "I thought the party doesn't start until 10."

"It doesn't but we promised Roman we'd help out with the preparations, remember? Now get off your lazy ass and take a shower already."

 

Ambrose didn't want to but it obeyed anyway, getting off the bed and stretching and mumbling things under his breath after doing so. He got his towel and went inside the bathroom, locking the door. He looked at himself in the mirror.

"'S alright," He told himself. "Just keep your cool. Everything will be fine, Ambrose." 

It was a bit difficult to do even the most mundane things, though. He was consulting a psychiatrist for a three weeks but the dissociation hasn't gone away yet, though he's been told that it will take a few months until it subsides to where he can work and function properly.

He exited the bathroom, not really sure if he washed his hair or not, and headed back to their room. Seth was still scrambling around like a mad man as Dean reached for his bag to get his clothes.

It wasn't the classiest outfit he's worn but he was sure that Roman's family had seen worse than a guy wearing a shirt and tattered jeans to their family reunion. 

 

"No," Seth refused when Dean asked him if the outfit was okay. "Go out on something decent, Dean. This is the first time we're invited to Roman's family reunion and I want us to look like we're not bad influences."

"Jeez, mom. Take it easy." Ambrose held his hands up in mock surrender before going back to the bathroom and changing nothing but his pants. It looked okay and thankfully Seth approved of it and they were on their way to meet up with Roman after a few minutes.

 

The Anoa'i household was big. It wasn't like a mansion but it was big enough to house fifteen people, and the backyard was large enough to fit twenty and it had a swimming pool and a swing set. Dean, like the immature man that he is, spent a good thirty minutes on the swing which was fortunately sturdy enough to support his size and weight. 

But after Roman called him for the fourth time to help with the cooking, Ambrose went back inside and helped out as best as he could. It was fun cooking, even though all Dean did was watch the cake to keep it from overcooking or baking or whatever Roman said. It was like magic the way that cake went from mush to tower-like. Needless to say, Dean felt like a kid again.

 

The guests started to arrive at exactly 10, and Dean made himself scarce as he knew he wasn't exactly the most social person  in the world. Roman allowed him to watch T.V in his room, and Dean had spent the last couple of hours laying in bed and watching movies.

Three hours into the party, Seth came up to check on Dean, relieved to see the older man okay and content watching television. Dean greeted him with a quick nod of his head as the half-blonde sat next to him.

"You doing okay?" Seth asked. "Everybody's looking for you downstairs."

"'M not really good with crowds, you know that, Tyler."

 

The familiar name should've surprised Rollins but it didn't. Instead, he held the older man's hand. "How long are you planning to keep him up here, Mox?"

"Until we...I get hungry."

"Dean'll get upset when he finds out that you're keeping him up here," The younger answered. "At least go downstairs and meet Roman's parents."

Moxley looked at him with an annoyed expression. "And risk embarrassing our- I mean, myself? No thanks."

 

Seth didn't leave after that. Instead, he fell asleep with his head leaning on the man's shoulder. Jon took the pillow supporting his back, put it on his lap and moved Tyler until th Armenian was rested on his lap. Moxley petted the dual-colored hair as he leaned back against the headboard.

 _'Thanks, Jon,'_ Ambrose whispered in his head and Mox could help the small smile creeping on his lips.

 

"And you wanted to get rid of me." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, God. Another awkward ending. Sorry. I just completely ran out of ideas. The ending was supposed to from the FFDN version but I wanted to make it longer.
> 
> Did Dean go through with the therapy? No, he didn't. There's the answer. I'm sorry!


End file.
